Mind Games
by J.M.Black
Summary: Kim is in trouble, but doesn't know it. So it's up to Tommy to save her, but can he get there in time. Rating may go up.
1. Teacher Of The Year

Disclaimer: I do not own the Power Rangers in any shape or form; damnit!

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Tommy looked at himself critically in the mirror. He had never been the suit and tie type of guy, but he could put up with it for one night at least. Tonight Tommy was being awarded as the Teacher of the Year by the Reefside alumni. Since he had quit being a Power Ranger his life had gotten pretty dull. No longer did he risk his life every week to save the world or run around in tight spandex. Over his Ranger years he had gotten used to, and even comfortable in the usual Ranger uniform. Tommy messed with his tie as he walked down the stairs and into his kitchen. He looked around at the mess of dishes, take-out containers, and pizza boxes. _I should probably clean this mess up_, Tommy thought as he poured himself a cup of coffee. Tommy loved his house, but it was certainly empty these days, no teenagers running were around trying to get to the basement. As Tommy entered the living room his eye caught a familiar picture hanging on the wall. It was taken on the day that Tommy became the good Green Ranger. Standing next to him was a certain petite gymnast, the one who got away. To this day Tommy still kicked himself for not going down to Florida and talking to Kim about the letter. Tommy sighed as he finished his coffee and looked around the living room. It was just as messy as the kitchen. Un-graded science papers, graded science papers, science magazines, old photos, and trash covered the room. Tommy didn't even remember the color of the carpet, let alone being able to see the floor. As the clock on his mantel struck seven Tommy took his mug back into the kitchen, grabbed his car keys from the hook, and headed out. The award was to be presented at the Reefside High School gymnasium by the board of education and alumni; it was expected to be a big turn out. His best friend, Jason, was going to be there, along with his brother, David, and his four favorite former students. The media would also be there along with most of the faculty. Principle Mercer was even going to make an appearance, even though she was almost eight months pregnant. Tommy had talked to Trent recently about his new little brother and Trent was extremely excited. Tommy had also been told that Nick Sanders, one of the school's most generous donors, was going to be there with his lovely wife. Tommy had never actually met the guy, but he owed a lot to him. He had been the guy who had donated the money for new lab equipment, the new science textbooks, and even a trip to the national history museum. As Tommy drove to the school he turned up the radio as one of his favorite songs came on, he was a country man. Tommy parked in his spot at the school, made sure his tie was on straight, and then got out of his jeep. As he walked up to the school entrance he kept messing with his tie, it felt like it was choking him. Tommy pushed the double doors open and the first thing he saw was a gigantic picture of himself behind a podium. He shook his head as he mingled and waited until it was time to accept his award. While he was mingling he was on the look out for Jason, David, Ethan, Conner, Trent, and Kira. Luckily for him they were all sitting at one of the corner tables talking. 

"Hey guys what's up?"

"You know we aren't all guys." Kira Ford countered as she hugged him

"Good point Kira."

"So how you been Dr O.?" Ethan asked as he shook hands with him

"Pretty good; bored, but good."

"So the great Tommy's finally retired?" Jason asked as he stood up and hugged his best friend.

"Afraid so, I just want a quiet normal life now."

"You, quiet and normal? I never thought I would see the day." Trent said as he shook hands with his former mentor.

"Very funny Trent, but no I like my life now. Don't get me wrong I miss all the action, but I like the quiet life now."

"Well as long as your happy bro, that's all we care about." David said as he looked up at his brother smiling.

"So Dr. O. staying out of trouble with the ladies?" Conner asked as he shook hands with his former teacher

"Conner." Kira said as she shook her head

"What he's not our teacher anymore I can ask him. So you go a lady yet."

"No Conner no lady, not even a possibility."

Before Conner could say anything else a man got up and said, "I want to thank you all for coming out tonight. Now if we could please have the Teacher of the Year come to the front so we can get this shindig started." Tommy smiled at his friends as he made his way to the podium to accept his reward. "Ah there he is." The man said as Tommy came up to the podium. Tommy shook hands with him as the man said, "It's my pleasure to present the Teacher of the Year award to Dr. Thomas Oliver." The man handed Tommy a small golden apple and a big check for five thousand dollars. He then moved out of the way so Tommy could speak. "Wow, I don't know what to say, this is such an honor. I want to thank the Reefside super for nominating me and to everyone who has supported me throughout my teaching years. Thank you for this honor, I couldn't think of a better way to reward those who give their lives to teaching. Thank you and have a pleasant evening." As Tommy finished his speech the crowed cheered and flashes went off as the photographers began to take pictures. After he had gotten off the stage Brain Wood, the super attendant, came up to him and said, "Dr. Oliver I would like to introduce you to Dr. Nick Sanders." The man who announced him came up and shook his outstretched hand. Nick was about as tall as Tommy was with pale skin, spiked blonde hair, and bright blue eyes.

"It's a pleasure to meet you Dr. Sanders."

"No the pleasure is all mine. Congratulations on the award."

"Thank you very much and thanks for the big party."

"Oh you don't have to thank me, actually my wife planned this."

"Really well she did an excellent job."

"Would you like to meet her?"

Nick turned around and beckoned his wife over. Tommy had to use all of his self control to keep his mouth shut as he watched Nick's wife walk over. Tommy could feel the anger inside him begin to rise as his wife took her dear time to get over here.

"Dr. Oliver I would like to introduce you to my wife Kimberly Sanders."

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I got this idea from a movie I watched a while ago with my mom. Once I saw it the evil wheels in my imagination started to turn. Enjoy and please review :)


	2. Surprises

Kim rolled her eyes as she heard her husband call her from somewhere among the crowd. She caught sight of him standing by the podium and looking her way. What could he possibly want now? The only time he ever called her was when he wanted something. She quickly excused herself from her group of friends and hoped that it wasn't already time for them to leave; she was having so much fun.

She slowly walked through the crowd, going past small groups talking animatedly. Kim stopped a few feet shy of Nick and took a look at the man standing in from of him. He looked so familiar, like she had seen him in a dream somewhere. She quickly shook the thought away as she remembered him form the post she had ordered of the teacher. Kim pulled herself together, put her best face forward, and stood next to her husband.

"Kimberly, this is Dr. Oliver, the Teacher of the Year," Nick said as he held Kim tightly by the waist.

"It's a pleasure to meet you Dr. Oliver and congratulations on the award, you deserve it," Kim said as she boldly stuck her hand out

Tommy shifted nervously and replied, "Thank you Mrs. Sanders."

"Oh please call me Kim, everyone does." Kim replied with a slight giggle

Tommy looked down, "I think I will stick to Mrs. Sanders." He retorted rather forcefully.

He heard her sigh and hang her head in shame? "Well it's your choice," she stated rather lamely, "but I think that Mrs. Sanders is too formal."

"Come now," Nick said in a subdued hostile manner. "I think that Dr. Oliver is in the right to address you like a married woman and not by some childhood nickname."

Kim looked up at her husband and even in the dark lighting she could see the anger, bitterness, and resentment in his eyes bright blue eyes. It looked like he despised this man for some reason. Before she could say anything else another man joined their small party, greeting Kim with a familiar smile.

"Jeffery, it's good to see you again." Kim greeted with a dazzling smile

Tommy looked at Jason, wondering if maybe this was some joke at his expense, it wasn't funny. The former red ranger's worried expression changed his mind, however.

"Uh, Kim, it's Jason," he corrected her, a frown plastered on his face.

Kim giggled lightly. "Oh right sorry, my memory's kind of shot lately."

Jason shook his head at her apology, "That's okay Kim, it happens all the time.

Kim turned her attention back to Tommy, linking her hands together. "Dr. Oliver I apologize if I'm being forward, but have met previously?"

Tommy was caught off guard for the second time that evening. Was she joking? How could she even pretend not to remember the roller coaster ride between them? Yet the way her voice sounded so naïve, almost like she believed the innocence in her words

Maybe she had already had too much to drink tonight. After all the alcohol was in abundance.

"Uh… yeah," he finally replied, unable to hide the anger and depression in his voice. "We went to the same school."

"Oh I knew I recognized you, we must have passed each other in the hall."

Tommy almost gasped, but choked it back and replied "We were on the same team."

"Oh you were a gymnast too?" Kim replied, perking up with interest.

"No that's not what I meant."

Kim's face deflated as she shyly looked away. "Oh well then…"

Kim began to get this sharp pain in her head. It felt like at any second her head was going to split in two. She inhaled sharply and raised her hand to her temple. Massaging it to trying to relieve the pain.

"Kim, darling, are you okay?" Nick asked with fake sincerity

"Yes, Nick," Kim replied with her eyes shut in pain. "I just have this pain in my head."

Nick rolled his eyes in annoyance and inquired "Did you take your medicine?"

Kim snapped her fingers as if she finally figured out what she had forgotten. "I must have forgotten; we left in such a hurry."

"Well if you gentlemen will excuse us I think I had better get my wife home to take her medicine." Nick said as he shook hands with Tommy and Jason

"Goodbye Dr. Oliver and again congratulations." Kim said as she shook Tommy's hand. "Bye Johnny see you later." Kim smiled as she gave Jason a friendly kiss on the cheek.

Nick grabbed her arm rather forcefully and practically dragged her outside. Kim winced in pain as his grip got tighter, probably bruising her skin.

"Did you have to flirt with him?" He asked angrily.

"Flirt with who Nick?" Kim replied innocently.

"Oh don't give me that bullshit Kimberly." His eyes flashed in rage as he rounded on her, "You know who I'm talking about."

"Nick I think that you have had too much to drink, why don't you let me drive home?"

Kim tried to take the keys away from her inebriated husband, but he held on to them tightly. His grip was so tight that his fingernails were digging into his palm, turning his knuckles white. She was afraid that he was going to start to bleed from the pressure.

"I'm fine; now get into the passengers' seat."

"Nick I think you have had one too many; just let me drive us home."

"No Kim, get into the car."

"Nick just let me have the keys."

Kim tried to wrestle the keys out of his hand, but before she got a good grip Nick shoved her. Not expecting the push Kim lost her balance and fell onto the pavement, scraping her hands, legs, and breaking one of her heels. "Look what you made me do, God you are so useless. Get into the car, NOW!" Nick yelled as he got into the car to wait for her. Kim pushed herself up, dusted her bottom off and got into the car.

"Man that was weird," Tommy stated as he ran his fingers through his short spiked hair. "It was like she didn't even know who I was and why did she keep messing up your name?"

"I don't know Tommy," Jason sighed with a worried look on his handsome face. "Ever since she had that fall and met Nick, she's been different."

"Fall…what fall?"

"I thought I told you about it at the funeral? Well while she was down in Florida she lost her balance and fell of the beam. She only broke her ankle, though, that's why it's so strange."

"Well how did that make her meet Nick?"

"He was the team doctor; he's the one who treated her. They began a friendship, but I never knew about them getting married."

"You mean she didn't tell you?"

"No, but then again I went down there once and met him. He told me to stay away from her. I guess that's why I didn't know about the marriage."

"It was like she didn't remember anything about what we went through as rangers or in our relationship."

"Yeah, she doesn't even remember who Trini was. That's why she wasn't at her funeral last year."

"I smell something fishy about this whole thing."

"As you saw she hardly remembers me and we have known each other since we were in diapers. First it was the little things like directions and places, but now she doesn't remember anything unless she sees it on a daily basis."

Tommy stood there deep in his thoughts when Conner came up to him out of breath.

He looked at the former red ranger's face and asked worriedly "What is it Conner?"

"I just saw this guy push his wife down in the parking lot." Conner replied in between gasps of air.

Tommy's heart went still. "Who were they?"

"The Doctor and his wife, I think. Then again it was dark and I didn't get a good look."

"Wait, how do you know who Nick and Kim are?"

"I met them when I came in, besides the girl, Kim did you say, was the one who called me about my experiences in your science class."

Tommy felt like someone's fist was around his heart trying to strangulate it. It couldn't have been Kim and Nick. For one, Kim would have fought back; she wasn't the type of girl to get pushed around by her husband.

Tommy thanked Conner for the information and then said his goodbyes; he had a lot to think about tonight. As he drove home he thought back to the conversation that he had had between Kim and Nick. He thought he caught annoyance laced in Nick's voice when he spoke directly to Kim, almost as if she were worthless.

Tommy got home, set his keys on the hook, his award on the kitchen table, and then went upstairs to get ready for bed. Tommy spent the rest of the night awake thinking. Mostly about Dr. Nick Sanders and how he had subtly treated Kim. The other part of the night was spent thinking about how Kim. As much as he hated it, it had been really good to see her after all these years. Seven to be exact, but hey who was counting, right? He also couldn't deny that she had looked amazing in that little black dress she had worn tonight. Around four in the morning, just as the sun was coming up, Tommy fell into an uneasy sleep.

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Thanks to everyone who reviewed the first chapter, I'm really thankful. I want to especially thank Chanelle Summer for helping me with my grammer and spicing the chapter up. I owe you a lot. Anywho see ya laters.


	3. Strange Dreams

The whole way home Nick and Kim didn't talk at all. Once they pulled up to their gorgeous two-story mansion Kim got out and immediately headed inside. She just had to get out of her silky black dress and into something more comfortable. Kim laid her purse and shawl on the sofa table and was heading toward the bedroom when she heard Nick scoff.

"What?" Kim asked with her hands on her hips

"You are such a pig, you know that?" Nick replied holding up the accessories that she had just set on the table. "And don't take that tone with me," he added as an after thought.

Kim rolled her eyes, turned around, and headed down the hall to the bedroom. After closing the door she made her way to the enormous walk-in closet, briefly surprised by the way her clothes had been straightened out. As she stepped out of the dress she quickly hung it back up on her side of the closet, eyeing Nick's flawless clothes. Her husband organized his clothes by color, fabric, and alphabetically by the designer's name.

Nick would get extremely pissed off if she accidentally put it on his side. Her husband was obsessive compulsive, well more the former than the latter.

Once Kim was out of that infernal dress, she opened the door to the master bath. The intricately designed room had two huge vanities, a claw foot tube, and an enormous shower. After all Nick had hired one of the best architects in the world to create this master piece.

Kim walked over to her sink, released her hair from the French braid it was in, and removed her make-up. She then got into the shower to attend to the dried blood, loose skin, and bits of gravel that still stuck to her shins. She also examined the arm that Nick had held, shocked she could already see the discoloration on her skin.

Kim sighed as she lowered her arm and allowed the water ran over her body; it felt so good. Within seconds, her thoughts strayed to the handsome Dr. Oliver- His muscular build showing off even in his suit; his attractive tanned skin which matched perfectly with his short, black spiked hair. The way he looked at you with those dark chocolate eyes, like he was looking into your soul. He was the perfect description of tall, dark, and handsome.

There was just something so familiar about him, like they had been friends in school. If she could remember, she might even go so far as to say that they had even been romantically involved together. Kim remembered so little about her life in Angel Grove that the city didn't seem to exist to her anymore. She figured that nothing exciting had ever happened there and that was why she didn't remember much.

There was one thing, however, that she did remember. The Youth Center stood clear out in her mind. Kim remembered the establishment and bartender very vividly. She giggled as she thought about Ernie and all the good times she had spent practicing her routines. All the times that she had ducked and hid from Sulk and Bkull. She also tried to remember all of her friends, but she only saw colors. Blue, Red, Yellow, Black, and White.

Kim had wanted so badly to have her wedding in Angel Grove, because it was her birth place. She wanted all of her friends and family with her on her joyous day. Nick, however, had convinced her that it would be more romantic to have it in Paris, France. They had had a small ceremony with only two guests- Kim's parents-because they had been the only ones to know about the marriage. Kim wasn't even allowed to tell Jack about it. Or was his name Jason, she could never remember. Kim always wondered why their wedding had been so small, but she never pushed it.

Kim was startled out of her thoughts when she heard banging on the bathroom door. She quickly turned the water off and got out of the shower. Drying herself off, she put her hair in a towel, and opened the door.

"Bout damn time," Nick said as he brushed past her. "A person could die waiting for you to get done."

Kim quickly and quietly got out of the bathroom before Nick did or said anything else. Once in the room Kim went to the dresser and got out a pair of pajamas. Since it was summer and still pretty hot, she chose a white tank top with a pair of pink shorts. As she got dressed she reflected on the evening, especially the ending. Nick wasn't normally the aggressive type, but he did have his moments. For instance when he had too much to drink, he became possessive of her.

Kim felt a pair of arms encircle her stomach and a soft kiss on the neck. She leaned into Nick and rested against his chest.

"Kimberly, darling, you know I'm sorry right?" Nick asked as he softly kissed her neck again.

Kim smiled softly and replied, "Of course Nick, I love you."

"I love you too sweetheart."

Kim felt a sudden burst of pain in her head as Nick kissed her down her collar bone. It felt like something was trying to break free from her mind. She screwed her eyes up in pain and winced, an agonizing gasp escaping her lips. Breaking free of Nick's embrace, she ran back into the bathroom with necessity. She searched her vanity in a hurry looking for the prescription bottle. Kim's knees went weak with relief as she clutched the tiny bottle. She swallowed two of the tiny little white pills and looked at her face in the mirror. Her eyes lingering on the tortured expression etched across her face. Regaining her composure she cautiously returned to her bedroom to face her angry husband.

"What happened?" Nick asked, his forehead deeply creased. "Are you so disgusted by my touch that you have to pretend to get a migraine?"

"No Nick… I just got one of those pains again." Kim replied as she held Nick's forearms

She had to make him understand that she wasn't repulsed by his touch. Somehow.

"Save it Kimberly, I don't want to hear it."

Nick turned, causing Kim to lose her balance, and got into to bed. Kim quickly regained her poise and crawled in beside him, hoping that everything would be better in the morning. She didn't know if it was the side affects of her medication or her exhaustion from such a surreal night, but before she knew it she felt herself drift off to sleep…

_Kim was walking through the park with a very handsome boy in green was walking beside her. She couldn't see his face, but she knew that he wasn't a threat to her. As she was walking she didn't notice the rock and as a result tripped over it. Just before she could hit the ground, her prince in green caught her, saving her from an ungraceful landing and a rather large bruise. Kim giggled and smiled up at him with an apology. The next thing she knew a big, ugly, thing appeared out of nowhere. Kim and her mystery man were quickly separated by a yellow looking tornado. She screamed for her knight, but he was asleep. Kim was sucked into a vase where she pounded on the walls to be let out, calling hopelessly for him to save her…_

Kim woke with a start. She was breathing hard as she looked at her surroundings, calming down when she realized where she was. She wasn't in a watery vase, but her bedroom with her husband lying next to her. As Kim laid back down, she thought about the dream. For some reason it didn't feel like a dream, but more like a memory. Kim knew this to be impossible, though, because if it had happened she would remember it for sure.

Finding it almost impossible to sleep again, Kim finally drifted off into an uneasy sleep around four in the morning, hoping that no more monsters would haunt her dreams.

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I want to thank my wonderful friend Chanelle Summer, again, for helping me with this chapter. I couldn't have done it without her. I hope that you enjoy it and brownie points to the people who know the episode where Kim's 'dream' comes from. Catch ya later.


	4. Tommy

Kim woke up when she heard a door slam near by. Slowly raising her head, she looked at the alarm clock beside her; it was five-thirty in the morning. She then reached next to her to discover that Nick wasn't there. Her head automatically turned towards the bathroom door as she heard the shower start.

She groaned. She knew she would never be able to get back to sleep now and unwillingly got out of bed. Her legs moved awkwardly as she walked over to the dresser and pulled out a pair of black shorts and a pink jog bra. As she striped off her pajamas she took care not to move too much, as every single bone in her body seemed to ache with protest at the slightest movement.

It was hard not to think about that look in Nick's eyes the previous night and the only way Kim could think to clear her head and stretch her aching limbs was to go for a jog. She needed to feel the early morning air on her body. Pulling her trainers on, she grabbed her iPod and delicately went downstairs. Not wanting to disturb Nick, she instead scrawled a note for him in the kitchen and quickly got her water bottle, before heading out into the surreal and peaceful morning.

She started out her morning exercise by walking a couple of blocks. As she strolled down the clear path, she thought more about the strange dream that she had had the night before. It had felt so real, like it had actually happened, once upon a time. The more she walked, the more the dream confused her foggy mind. Finally growing sick of thinking about it, Kim turned up the volume on her iPod and began to run. At first her legs screamed in protest, but she pushed through the pain, running with all of her heart and soul as though she was trying to run away from something.

Kim finally collapsed on a park bench to catch her breath. She opened her bottle of water, took a long drink, and laid her head back. As she closed her eyes, an image flashed across her mind, her green mystery man twirling her around in the air, her eyes popped open. "Tommy," the name escaped her lips in a whisper.

Kim was disturbed by the image and his name; something felt wrong. Looking out over the calm surface of the water, the feeling subsided. For some weird reason she felt safe there, like someone was putting their arms around her in a protective bubble. She quickly shook her head, trying to clear the image from her mind. That is when she realized that she had forgotten to take her medication this morning. It took a lot of energy for Kim to get up off the park bench, but she eventually found the strength and made her way back home.

She put her key into the lock and walked into the house just as the clock on the mantel struck eight- she couldn't believe that she had been gone for two and a half hours. Kim began to make the exhausting trip up to her room when she was stopped by Carle, the maid.

"Mr. Sanders requested that you go into the parlor when you came home." Carle said in a very small and terrified voice.

Kim gave the poor girl a sweet smile and replied, "Thank you very much, Carle."

Carle bowed and then ran off down the stairs to the basement. Kim chuckled lightly as she watched the young girl disappear, before turning her attention and interest to the closed parlor doors. Sighing heavily, Kim gripped the handles and pushed open the doors. The sight made her gasp, her hand flying up to cover her open mouth. The decorative parlor was covered in white and pink roses; there must have been a thousand roses covering the room. Kim walked slowly around the room in complete aw. Tears began to fill her eyes as she noticed that a trail of rose petals lead to a small table. She followed the trail to the table and picked up a note written in her husbands beautiful script:

_There is a rose for every time I thought about you last night; a rose for every time I wished I could take back what I did last night, a rose for every hope that you will forgive me, there are 1,500 roses. Meet me tonight at Under The Stars Café._

_P.S. look for the red rose._

Kim turned around and began to search the room for the single red rose. She finally found it hidden in the middle of a bundle of white roses. Very carefully, Kim took the single red rose out of the bundle. To the naked eye it looked like an ordinary rose, but Kim knew better than to take things at face value. She gently looked the rose over and gasped again when she what was nestled in the center. With tears streaming down her face, Kim lifted a beautiful ring out of the rose's heart. Slipping it on her finger she noticed how the gold band fitted perfectly and how the pink diamond sparkled. Kim stood transfixed by the stone and jumped suddenly when she heard a slight knock on the door. She turned and a smile spread across her face as her best friend and neighbor, Emily, walked into the room.

"What has he done now?" Emily questioned with a gesture.

Kim glared lightly at Emily and replied, "He hasn't done anything."

Emily rolled her eyes, clearly still skeptical. "Right…and that's why there is a huge bruise on your arm and your legs are all scraped up."

"Oh well he didn't mean that. He was just a bit tipsy." Kim replied looking away from Emily's prying gaze.

"Do you know what they call the period after a husband first hits his wife?"

Kim looked down at her sparkling ring "No, what?" she asked softly, already knowing what was coming. Emily had a habit of lecturing her about the things that Nick did while intoxicated. Kim knew that Emily's heart was in the right place, but she was growing tired of all the lectures. She didn't seem to understand the love that Kim and Nick shared.

"The honeymoon period. This is when the husband tells his wife that he is so sorry, that he loves her, that he will never do it again, and then he showers her with gifts."

Kim tried really hard not to laugh. "So Nick gave me some roses and a ring- it doesn't mean anything."

"Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't this like your six or seventh honeymoon?" Emily asked ad she pushed the subject.

"Oh don't be ridiculous Emily." Kim dismissed her argument. "He did it because he loves me and there is no other reason."

"But Kim I…"

Kim held up her hand to stop Emily. "Em, you know that you are my best friend, but you promised that you would stay out of this, remember?"

"I remember," Emily grumbled. "And I wish I hadn't made that promise too."

Kim sighed and prayed for more patience. "Nevertheless you promised and I'm going to hold you to your word, now can we please change the subject."

"If you don't mind me asking," Emily said innocently. "What drew you to Nick in the first place?"

"Well he was always there for me in Florida. When I fell and broke my ankle he carried me to the medical office. When my boyfriend broke up with me, he held me while I cried. When I turned to alcohol because of the break up, he was there holding my hair back. He stuck up for me when Coach Schmidt wanted to kick me out of the program…" She sighed as she reflected on the painful past. "He has always been there for me."

Emily's eyebrows raised in curiosity. "You were an alcoholic?"

"Yeah, I was so depressed and nothing seemed to take the pain away except alcohol. Oddly enough when I was drunk, I was able to see him."

"Your x-boyfriend?" Emily questioned with a raised eyebrow.

"Yeah, we were together when I was in Angel Grove."

"So he broke up with you while you were in Florida training?"

Kim nodded and answered bitterly, "Yeah and get this- he didn't have the guts to tell me to my face. He wrote me a letter saying how he had found the woman that he wanted to spend the rest of his life with and that if I could meet her I would like her. I was so upset that I began to drink and drink hard."

"Wow…" Emily paused. "I had no idea… you never told me that."

"Yeah and when all the other male gymnasts found out I was single, they asked me out non-stop. Nick waited and then at the perfect moment asked me out. He was so romantic about it, that's one of the qualities I love about him."

Emily's eyes darkened a little, "Kim there is nothing romantic about a guy who pushes his wife around."

"Emily you promised, just please drop it."

Her friend gave a sigh of defeat. "Yeah, actually I came over to see how your party went last night…and if you met any hot, single guys for me?"

Kim laughed as she regaled Emily with the events of the party; being sure to leave out what had happened in the parking lot. As the clock struck noon, Kim realized how hungry she was.

She put a hand over her stomach and asked Emily, "Are you as hungry as I am?"

Emily giggled and replied, "Famished."

"Well how 'bout I go get cleaned up and we can go out for lunch?"

Emily nodded eagerly, "That would be perfect; we could try that new bistro up by the high school."

"Nick tried it and said that it wasn't very good." Kim admitted

"So, maybe he didn't select the right course."

Kim nodded her head as she laughed. She asked Emily to wait in the parlor while she went upstairs to freshen up. She was pleasingly surprised by how much better her muscles felt after her run; her mood lifting incredibly.

As Kim removed her exercise clothes, she took care not to let her necklace caught in her jog bra. One of her friends in Angel Grove had given it to her before had she left for Florida, but for the life of her she couldn't remember his name. It was a small, iridescent pink crane pendant hanging from a gold chain. Nick didn't like the fact that she wore it, but it was one of the few things that Kim refused to take off, the other being her wedding ring.

Kim went into the bathroom and while she was getting ready she took a look at the bruise on her arm. Its color had intensified radically since she last looked at it and she knew the stares she would get. She decided that she had better opt for long sleeves, just in case. After a final examination in the mirror Kim flew down the stairs and grabbed Emily. Her friend's eyes darkened over her choice of a top as the jumped into Kim's cherry red Jaguar convertible, driving off to lunch.

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Thanks to those who reviewed, much appriciated. I think I'm going to make a game with the brownie points, not sure. Anyway thanks to my wonderful beta Chanelle, you awsome chica. Toodles


	5. Rendezvous at the Bistro

Tommy looked at the clock as the bell rang. "You're dismissed," he told his class as, straightened the pile of assignments he had just received. Looking up when he heard giggling, Tommy smiled politely at the group of girls as they passed his desk. This, unfortunately, only sent the girls into further of giggles as they left the room with last glances at him.

Something Kira had once said to him popped back into his mind. He shook his head at the memory and grabbed the papers to put in his briefcase.

"_Oh come on, Dr. O. you know that every girl who goes to this school has a crush on you. Why, you have been unofficially voted the hottest teacher at Reefside,"_

Kira's voice and laughter rang though his memory. Tommy laughed silently to himself. He, hottest teacher, the idea was ludicrous. Sure, he could still turn the ladies heads, but he had never figured himself for being a heartthrob or a heartbreaker.

As he was putting the papers in his briefcase he heard a laugh coming from behind him.

"You're still driving the girls crazy, huh?" Jason inquired as he leaned against the door frame, with his hands jammed into his pockets.

"What can I say?" Tommy replied as he smiled at his best friend. "The chicks just seem to dig me," he added with a laugh.

Jason tried very hard not to snort. "Yeah, yeah, yeah, so whatcha up to?" he asked as he pushed himself off the doorway and walked over to Tommy's desk.

"I'm going to get some lunch and then come back here and grade papers," Tommy replied with a wave of his hand at his briefcase.

Jason shrugged his shoulders, "How long do you have for lunch?"

"Well, I normally have thirty minutes, but because I have next block off I now have almost two hours," Tommy answered as he bent over to mess with his stubborn computer. It was beeping, saying that he had a new e-mail.

"Cool, so do you want to try that new bistro that just opened up?"

Tommy stopped fiddling for a second and looked up at Jason. "I don't know Jase; I have a lot of work to do."

"Aww come on bro," Jason said as he all but begged. "A nice long lunch is just what the doctor ordered."

"And which doctor would that be?" Tommy questioned with a raised eyebrow.

Jason grinned, "Dr. Scott of course, now let's go."

Tommy let Jason drag him out of the school and into his red pick-up truck. On the drive over to the restaurant they talked about the exciting things going on in their lives, which were few and far between. As they were pulling into an open space, Tommy caught sigh of a red jaguar. He shook his head as he thought of how much money people spent on flashy cars. They could be putting that money to much better use, such as investing it in a local cause.

As they entered the bistro, a waiter came up immediately and began to ask their table preferences and party number. Tommy caught a whiff of some of the food as another waiter passed by him with a trey of orders and only then did he realize how hungry he was. He was glad that he had let Jason drag him here.

The waiter was showing them to their table when they both heard a familiar giggle coming from a table to their far right and stopped dead in their tracks. Tommy's head whipped around as his eyes landed on Kim. She was sitting with another woman whose appearance had apparently caught Jason's attention. The woman was very tall and thin, apparently by nature. She had a very white, creamy complexion that was contrasted by her long, dark cherry red hair. Her eyes were an amazing shade of blue; they reminded Tommy of a crystal clear lake.

His gaze on the unknown woman however, was not held for long as he looked back at Kim. She looked positively stunning in her off the shoulder, long sleeved, pink shirt and a little denim skirt. Her long, caramel brown tresses were securely held by a golden barrette and cascaded down her back in soft curls. Her hazel eyes were alight with laughter and spark. It was as though he was a teenager again and Tommy couldn't help but think that some of the old Kim was showing through right in front of him.

It seemed as if his gaze had attracted hers because soon he found their eyes locked together. Her face softened as a small smile played at the corner of her lips. Tommy's heart began to beat faster as she waved both of them over to her table. They made their way through the tables to where the two women were sitting. Kim stood up as they arrived at the table and greeted Jason with a big hug, before offering Tommy received a warm handshake.

Turning to her friend she said, "Emily, I would like to introduce Dr. Oliver and…"

Jason shook his head slightly and supplied his name," Jason."

Kim looked embarrassed and started to apologize, but Jason swiftly stopped her.

"It's no big deal," he assured her with a wave of his hand. "I sometimes even forget my own name."

"It's a pleasure to meet you gentlemen, I'm Emily Dayton- Kim's neighbor and best friend." She said as she stood up to shake their hands and take the spotlight off of Kim.

Gesturing to the two empty chairs Kim said, "Won't you join us?"

Tommy looked at Jason uncomfortably. His friend, however, was plainly entranced by Emily. Deciding to put his friend's hormones over his own comfort, he agreed and they sat down. He smiled inside as he saw Kim's entire face light up to that fact that they had accepted the proposal, clearly oblivious to his hesitation.

The waiter came, took their orders, and left them to their conversation.

"So Dr. Oliver," Emily began, as she picked up a breadstick. "What are you exactly a doctor of?"

"Well I have my PhD in Paleontology and I teach high school science at Reefside."

"Do you like to teach high schoolers? I hear they can be quite the handful, after all I teach third graders," Emily inquired as her piercing blue eyes burrowed into his dark brown ones.

Tommy stared back and answered, "I love it, the only problem is I get too attached to them and then they graduate. I miss some of my former students terribly."

"Oh yes I talked with one on the phone recently." Kim shared as she too grabbed a breadstick. "Mr. McKnight was one of the students who nominated you for Teacher of the Year," she added while trying very hard to stifle a yawn.

"You have been yawing almost all day, what's wrong?" Emily questioned, as her gaze turned from Tommy's to Kim's.

Even Kim seemed to fidget under her friends piercing blue gaze.

"Oh nothing," Kim assured her as she covered her mouth and yawned again. "I was just up late last night."

"Why were you up so late?" Jason asked going immediately into his big brother mode.

Tommy tried hard not to laugh because this was the first time his best friend had taken his eye off of Emily.

"I have been having these really weird dreams," she admitted as she bit her lip and then added in a small whisper. "But they don't feel like dreams at all. They feel more like, I don't know, memories."

Tommy perked up a little, listening intently.

"What are the dreams about?" Emily asked as cast a side glance at Kim.

Kim bit her lip again and Tommy could see the debate going on inside her eyes. Finally, she opened her mouth and began to explain.

"Well, I was walking through this park and there was this guy in green walking next to me."

"Who was he?" Tommy blurted out before he could stop himself.

Kim shook her head and replied, "I don't know I never saw his face. All I know was that he was wearing a dark green shirt and black jeans."

"Oh," Tommy said failing miserably at hiding the disappointment. He remembered that day with a clarity that shook him to the bone. The fact was he remembered almost everything that had happened while he and Kim had been together. Tommy shook his head clear of the memories and turned his attention once again to Kim.

"… and well we were walking through the park and I tripped over a stone. This mystery man caught me in his arms just before I landed on my butt."

Tommy smiled; he remembered how good Kim had felt in his arms. How he wanted to stay like that forever.

"And then this big ugly monster appeared out of nowhere and the mystery man and I became separated by this yellow tornado thing. I called out for him, but I think he was put to sleep or something. The next thing I knew I was in a vase, pounding on the walls and screaming for the man in green to help me. As the vase moved I woke up and realized that it had all been a dream," Kim finished as the waiter came to take their orders.

Before Tommy could ask Kim if she had had any other strange dreams, Emily began to talk about how Freud had said that dreams were ways the unconscious told the conscious what they wanted, while Jason was eating up every word she said.

"So Kim, your dream is telling you that you want more romance in your marriage." Emily finally concluded as the food came.

"Does Nick wear a lot of green?" Jason asked before beginning to eat.

"Are you kidding me?" Kim replied as she picked up her fork. "Nick hates the color green with a passion."

Jason and Emily then began a conversation about pet peeves, while Tommy and Kim seemed to steal secret glances at each other.

When they were done eating Kim's cell phone ran. She took a look at the caller id, excused herself, and went outside to take the call. While she was gone Emily turned her attention back to Tommy.

"So Dr. Oliver; what do you think about Kim's dream?"

The question startled Tommy, but he didn't let it show. Could she possibly know about him and Kim being power rangers?

"I thought it was very interesting and creative," Tommy answered evasively

"Do you think it could mean something?" Emily pushed.

"Ms. Dayton," Tommy said as he shook his head. "I'm not a very good dream interpreter, but I do think that her dream was something significant."

Before Emily could ask another question, however, Kim came back to the table.

"Sorry about that," she apologized. "There is a problem at the gym and I need to go and check it out."

"You have a gym?" Tommy questioned with a raised eyebrow.

Kim nodded and replied, "Yes, I have a gymnastic academy, The Hart Gymnastic Academy, HGA for short. It actually just opened up recently, would you like to come and see it?"

Tommy looked at his watch; he still had about an hour and an half before he had to get back to the school. He was just a little bit nervous about accepting the proposal, but in the end his curiosity won out.

"I would love to go," he said with a pleasant smile.

After they paid the bill, Tommy got into Jason's red truck and they followed Kim. He had to laugh at himself when he noticed the car that Kim was driving.

"What's so funny bro?" Jason asked as he quickly glanced at Tommy.

"Well I saw that car coming into the bistro and thought about the brat who must have owned it. As it turns out, that brat is Kim."

"Yeah, Nick gave Kim the car after they had a big fight or at least that's what she told me. I tried to press the issue, but she was very tight lipped about it. She said it was none of my business." Jason explained as he continued to follow the gleaming red vehicle.

At the mention of Kim's husband, a dark look fell over his face. Something was severely wrong about the entire relationship and something was definitely wrong with Kim. She and Jason had known each other since they were in diapers. How could she keep forgetting his name? Then there was the medicine that she kept on mentioning. Tommy knew that if Kim had been brainwashed then the most likely culprit was the medication. For there was only one time that Kim had ever forgotten who he was and that was when Zedd had sent them the Scatterbrain monster.

Something was defiantly wrong and Tommy was going to figure out what it was, even if it killed him.

* * *

Sorry it took so long to get this chapter out, I had terrible writers block. I hope that you enjoy it and all it's 2,000 words. Hurray for reaching a new word count. Oh and brownie points to anyone who can name the episode with the monster scatterbrain. I'm turning it into a contest I hope that you enjoy it and will look forward to playing. Catch ya on the flip side.


	6. HGA

Kim turned up the radio as they drove to the gym. The top was down and the wind was blowing through her hair, just the way she liked it.

"So how long have you known Dr. Oliver?" Emily questioned in her passive aggressive way.

"Well, we used to go to school together, but I don't remember much from then. We met last night at the party. Why?" Kim added with a questionable glance.

Emily quickly looked out the window, "No reason."

"Is someone falling for the doctor?" Kim teased.

"No," Emily said defensively. "I just saw the looks he was giving you. I think he's really taken with you."

"Em, he knows that I'm married."

"Yeah to an asshole," Emily whispered to herself as they pulled up to the academy.

Meanwhile, the men parked their car a few spots away and Tommy couldn't help but get out and stare in awe at the facility. In from of him was a very large, white building. On the roof stood three huge letters, HGA, below that was a sign that read 'The Hart Gymnastics Academy'. Tommy remained next to the truck in a stupor, until a voice brought him out of his thoughts.

"Wait until you see the inside," Kim said, as she felt a certain pride swell in her at Dr. Oliver's expression.

Tommy followed Kim through the double doors and into the reception area. The very first thing anyone saw was a huge wooden desk and a young woman with short copper hair answering phones. Behind the desk was a large trophy case with almost nothing in it. The letters HGA and what they stood for were stamped on the glass case, as were almost all of the furnishings. Plastered all over the desk were fliers, newspaper clippings, and old photos, and amongst them all Tommy even recognized countless images of Kim herself. "This way," Kim gestured with her hand and they followed her through a door to the left and into a very spacious, open room. For the second time Tommy's mouth fell open. The room was huge, with a very high ceiling, and barely any windows. In the very middle of the room was a huge pink mat with HGA stamped across it. To the left of the mat were four balance beams each surrounded by red mats. Directly above the floor were three sets of bars. One was just a single bar, next was a set of rings, and then there was a set of uneven bars, and surrounding the bar sets was a huge pit of blue foam. To the right of the floor there was a lot of equipment including, a vault, a pommel horse, and a set of parallel bars. All of these were surrounded by mats of bright yellow.

"This is our gymnasium, where all the action happens." Kim explained as she held her hands up. "All the sections are separated by their own color- to the left is the balance beam area or red area, to the right is the vaults, pommel, and parallel bars or the yellow area, and straight ahead is our bar area or the blue area. On the other side of the blue area we have a trampoline set up so the students can practice their twists and turns without getting hurt."

Tommy looked and sure enough, there was a white trampoline and coming from the ceiling were two cables.

"What do the cables connect to?" Tommy inquired.

Kim smiled and replied, "They connect to the gymnast so that they don't get hurt if the miss a step."

"Speaking of gymnasts, where are yours?" Emily asked as she walked over to the red area.

Kim checked her watch and replied, "They're at lunch right now."

"Do you have a lunch room here?" Jason asked as he followed Emily, and stopped beside one of the balance beams.

Kim nodded her head. "Yeah, it's downstairs in the basement. Would you like to see it?"

They all nodded their heads and followed Kim through a door to an elevator.

"What's that door for?" Tommy asked, pointing to a white door.

"That's the chalk closet," Kim replied with a wave. "Now upstairs is our viewing area, my office, and the ice room."

"The ice room?" Emily questioned with a raised eyebrow

"Yeah, it's where we keep the ice in case someone gets hurt."

They got into the elevator and Kim pushed the up button. The viewing area was enormous. It was stationed on the balcony of the second floor with a perfect view of the practice arena. There were soft black chairs everywhere and two long black tables.

"And here is my office," Kim indicated at a nearby door, where Tommy could see the name 'Coach Sanders' etched onto the plaque.

Tommy had to bite his tongue and fight the overwhelming urge to rip the plaque off of the door and throw it across the room. He reluctantly followed Kim as she continued the tour, oblivious to his violent thoughts.

"Wow, Kim, this place is gorgeous," Jason admired while threw Tommy a look. Kim had always loved the finer things in life and it was clear that her tastes hadn't changed very much.

Everything was beautifully decorated. In the middle of the office was a big, aged, wooden desk with a computer and telephone. The room was painted white and was covered in photos. Some of them were of Kim holding up trophies or medals, yet a majority of the photos were of her and her friends in Florida. On the right was a trophy case bursting at the seams with engraved cups, awards, and medals. The room was sweet and reminded Tommy much of the girl he had used to know.

From the office they went down to the cafeteria. Tommy had to hold a laugh back as he cast his eyes over the dining hall; it was almost identical to the one at Reefside High School. The room was bustling with fifty girls and boys ranging from thirteen to about twenty-five. The moment they arrived the whole room went quiet and then everyone began to shout their welcomes to Kim. She smiled warmly at them and shouted her own welcome back, talking to a few on the way to the kitchen.

_I never dreamed that Kim would get this far…she's got it all,_ Tommy thought as Kim quickly showed them the kitchen, before heading to the on site housing.

"These are the girl's dorms and the boys are on the second floor." Kim explained as they started towards to the end. "At the end of this hallway is one of the lounges." She added with a hand gesture as they walked down to the hall.

As they continued down the hallway, Tommy noticed that Jason and Emily were walking slower and talking about martial arts. It seemed Emily owned her own dojo.

"So why don't you have two separate buildings?" Tommy asked curiosity getting the better of him.

"Two separate buildings, for what?" Kim wondered as she looked at him with a puzzled expression.

"The different genders," Tommy elaborated matter-of-factly.

Kim raised an eyebrow. "Why would I do that?"

Tommy looked down at Kim with a surprised look. "So that nothing happens."

Her eyebrow lowered and a smile played at the corner of her lips. "Oh Dr. Oliver, separate buildings won't stop them from trying to have sex."

Tommy stopped dead in his tracks, causing Emily to collide with him. She almost fell over, but Jason caught her before she could hit the ground. He uttered a hurried apology before turning back to Kim.

He couldn't believe that she had just said that.

"W-W-What?" Tommy sputtered as he finally got the feeling back in his legs.

Kim giggled as she replied, "Dr. Oliver, you can't stop two teenagers from having sex if they really want to."

"So you don't do anything to stop it?" Tommy asked as he threw his hands up

"What do you suppose I do? Lock them in their rooms or perhaps turn off the elevator? Both of which are against fire regulations."

"So you just let them wander into each others rooms?" All of this was starting to give Tommy a headache. Kim had never been the type to condone teenage sex.

"No, of course not," Kim said in a very offended manner. "Each hall has three cameras that run all the time and I have someone who patrols the halls at night, but if a gymnast wanted to have sex, then they could easily sneak around all of these obstacles. Oh come now Dr. Oliver, you were a teenage boy once- you had raging hormones. Wasn't there ever a girl who turned your head, one that you just wanted in your arms to have your way with?"

Tommy looked at Kim; yes there had been such a girl. And now she was standing before him, a woman.

He could think of only one thing to say. "Tommy."

The cup that Kim had been holding dropped to the floor. It was now her turn to stutter.

"Wh-What did you say?"

"My name is Tommy," He unwillingly took a step towards her. "Kim."

Her startled expression changed into a soft smile.

"You called me Kim."

"That is your name, isn't it?"

Her eyes lowered slightly, "Yes… I just thought you wanted to be formal."

Tommy laughed quietly, "What ever gave you that idea?"

As she opened her mouth to say something the alarm on Tommy's watch went off. He reluctantly looked down and realized that he had thirty minutes to get back to the school.

Cursing under his breath, glanced at Jason, and then back at Kim. "We need to get going, my next class starts in thirty minutes," he explain. Tommy was presently surprised the way her eyes seemed to dim a little.

Maybe she didn't want him to leave, after all.

"We'll use the quick route back," Kim assured as she plastered a smile on her face and took the lead.

Tommy couldn't think as they made their way through the building. He could feel Jason's eyes on him the entire way back, but he ignored them, especially when they reached the exit. He offered a brief thanks to Kim and they hopped back into the truck, Tommy's mind already wandering. On the way back to the school Jason regaled Tommy with the conversation he had had with Emily.

Tommy, however, wasn't paying attention; he was thinking about the one girl that he wanted _back_ in his arms.

* * *

So I hope that you have enjoyed the story thus far. My work schedule has been changed so I won't be getting much time to write, so it may be a while before I can get the next chapter out. As always please review and have a wonderful day :)


	7. The Discovery

Kim drove home in a daze, trying to sift through her emotions. There was something about Dr. Oliver- Tommy- that did strange things to her. He made her heart beat faster, her mind go blank, and the palms of her hands begin to quiver.

They were all the symptoms of a woman in love, but she couldn't be in love with a man she had only known two days.

_No_, her brain reminded her, _you knew him before, at school._

Could they have dated while she had been at Angel Grove High School? She quickly shook the idea aside; if she had been romantically involved with him she would remember it. All though she hardly remembered Jason's name and they had known each other a long time. What else had she forgotten over the years, or more importantly _who_ else had she forgotten? Was it just coincidence that his first name just happened to be the name that had escaped her lips that morning?

Kim parked her car in the garage and went inside, her mind still heavy. She still had four hours before she had to get ready to meet Nick at the café, so she decided that it would be a good idea to take a nap. Maybe her dreams would solve some of the problems floating around her head.

The moment she walked through the door, she asked Carmen, the other maid, to wake her up in two hours and then went upstairs to her room. On her way down the hall Kim noticed that the door to Nick's study was ajar. She knew that she wasn't allowed in there, but curiosity got the better of her and she hesitantly went into the dark room. Making sure that Nick wasn't in there; she flicked on the light switch and looked around. The walls were covered with books, except for one.

The wall farthest the door had a grand desk that was covered in pictures of _the power rangers_?

Kim wandered over to the desk and picked up a manila folder tab marked, pink. With shaking hands, she opened the file and came face-to-face with hundreds of photos of the pink ranger. While she was sifting through the pictures, Kim began to get an eerie feeling in the pit of her stomach. Some of the photos looked familiar to her.

_I probably saw them in a magazine or newspaper_, Kim thought as she continued to look at the images.

Was Nick really obsessed with the power rangers? Was that why his study was off limits to her? Did he not want her to know about his obsession?

As she finished looking through the pink folder she found a yellow folder beneath it. There were far less pictures of the yellow ranger than that of the pink one. The last picture, however, was the most interesting.

It was of a beautiful Asian girl, dressed in a yellow shirt and khaki pants, sitting on a park bench. Underneath the picture was a sticky note with Nick's handwriting on it, Trini Kwan, deceased. Kim looked from the note back to the girl's face. There was something familiar about her. Like she had seen her once upon a dream.

Kim closed the folder, set it down, and was about to turn away when something caught her eye. It was a folder marked with the title "enemies" and it was pretty thick. She curiously picked it up and was about to look through it when she heard a door slam somewhere downstairs. Dropping the folder back in its place, she flew out of the study and into her room. Nick would not be happy if he found her nosing around in his study and she didn't want to ruin their special evening.

Kim decided that a nap was the best thing for her overloaded brain, which was now sagging with the new information. So she went into the bathroom and put her pajamas on. She noticed that the bruise's color seemed to be lighter, so she took her medicine in a somewhat better mood. As she laid down, she let the fluffy, enormous bed envelope her in a cocoon and at long last, sleep come to her foggy mind…

_Kim was standing in a circular room and looking up at a talking, floating head. She couldn't make out what the head was saying as it was mumbled, but it seemed like it was immensely important. As she turned around with the others, she had to shield her eyes because they were blinded by a bright, white light. Once they were adjusted, she could see a figure descending from the light, like something out of the bible. The figure landed and stood before her, clad in white with an emblem on his chest. As he removed his helmet Kim felt her legs give way and saw only black. Not long after she had fainted she heard a voice above her say, "Hey, beautiful, it's time to wake up."_

"Senora, Senora Sanders? It is time to wake up," Carmen said, as she gently shook Kim awake.

Kim groggily opened her eyes and looked up at Carmen. It had all been another dream and a very good one at that. Reluctantly she sat up and looked at the clock; she had two hours to get ready for her date with her husband.

Throwing the covers off, she stepped into the bathroom and turned the shower water on. Kim wet her hair, hoping that the water would wash away some of the items clouding her mind. She particularly wanted the mystery man's phrase to wash away. It was playing over and over again in her head, like a broken record.

She knew that she had heard that phrase before, but she couldn't think of where. Nick had never called her by a nickname; he flat out refused to call her anything but her given name. The only nicknames Jason ever called her by were either Kim or Kimmy. Emily, Tommy, and her parents all seemed to call her Kim, as well.

_Another puzzle_, Kim thought as she got out of the shower and dried herself off. Once she was dry, she made her way to the closet to pick an outfit out. She immediately discarded the idea of wearing anything that was sleeveless. She finally chose a black, off the shoulder dress, with long sleeves and a jagged mesh skirt, before returning to the bathroom. As she began to put her make-up, a face shot through the fog in her brain- A handsome man with strong cheek bones, long brown hair held in a pony tail, and dark, soulful brown eyes.

Kim dropped her mascara wand in surprise.

The person in her dream had been Tommy. Was there more to the science teacher than she first thought? As she grabbed her purse, Kim made a mental note to ask Nick about Tommy that night at dinner.

* * *

Nick looked at his watch- Kimberly was late again. He wouldn't hold it against her though, at least not this time. 

As he sat at the table he fantasized about what she was doing at that very moment. Taking a shower, getting dressed, or perhaps putting her make-up on. He couldn't hold it against her if she wanted to look good for him.

Nick looked up as he heard the door of the restaurant open and smiled inwardly as he saw Kimberly come through the door. He had chosen well this time, the others had been okay, but this time it was perfect. He couldn't believe his luck, when he had found out who she really was that first afternoon practice. His inward smile grew even larger when he noticed that almost every man's eyes were on his wife.

_Yes,_ he thought, _and I'm the one controlling her._

It was as if Kimberly was the puppet and he the master.

Nick stood as she approached the table and graciously received the kiss that she offered him. He helped her into her chair and then resumed his seat.

"Sorry I'm late baby, I hit traffic on the way here," Kim apologized as she took her seat across the table from her husband.

"That's all right; as long as you're here I'm happy," Nick recited almost mechanically, knowing that line always worked on her. "I took the liberty of ordering for you," he added as the waiter brought over their food.

Kimberly only smiled in reply and began to eat her garden fresh salad. Silence transpired between them, Nick's eyes remaining fixed on his wife; at her poised essence, at the manner in which she was so magnetic. He couldn't speak, but only watch and admire.

Nick was almost done with his steak when Kimberly spoke up.

"Nick, did I ever tell you anything about my adolescence?" she asked innocently.

Nick almost dropped his fork, but quickly recovered and replied, "No, I asked once, but you said something terrible had happened and that you didn't like to talk about it. Why?"

She began to fidget a little in her chair "Well, I have been having these really weird dreams, only they don't feel like dreams, but more like memories."

Nick swallowed hard; was she not taking her prescription? He knew that if she discovered what he had done he would have to dispose of her.

"When did you start to have these dreams, darling?"

"After the party yesterday," she answered, before continuing to eat.

Nick began to mentally kick himself. He knew that he shouldn't have introduced Kimberly to Tommy, but he needed to measure the level of memory loss. Now, it had possibly begun an irreversible chain reaction.

"It's probably the excitement of the past couple of days. I wouldn't worry about it if I were you," Nick said with enough of a doctoral tone to squash the subject.

Thankfully, Kimberly dropped the subject and they were able to finish the evening in peace.

Nick sped all the way home and then shut himself in his study. He pulled out the charts that he had begun on Kimberly once he had administered the first dose.

From his charts, Kimberly was right on schedule. She was at the fuzzy stage, where things and memories came back as flashes. Normally, people would shake those away as a trick of the eye, but not Kimberly.

Nick looked up at the pink ranger poster; he sometimes forgot how strong Kimberly really was. But that was why he had chosen her in the first place. She was his most prized catch. The cheerleader in high school had had beauty as the genius in college had had brains, but Kimberly had both. It was a shame that he had to dispose of the two girls, though.

_All for scientific advancement_, Nick thought as he turned his desk lamp off and made his way to his bedroom. He stood in the doorway and looked down at Kimberly's sleeping form. He would up her dosage the next day, just to be on the safe side. He got into bed and thought about how good it was to have control over a former ranger.

* * *

Okay so work didn't hinder my imganination, but actually helped it. I have the weekend off so I will probably start the next chapter soon. As always brownie points to the people who can name the episode that I took the dream from. Catch ya on the flips side :)


	8. White Tiger

All night Tommy tossed and turned, unable to get any sleep. What little sleep he did get was plagued by disturbing dreams of Kim.

At around three in the morning he finally gave up trying to sleep and went into the kitchen. It was considerably less dirty than it had been two days ago, but it still wasn't that clean. Sitting down at the table he pulled his old yearbook towards him and opened it to a random page. The first thing his eyes landed on was a picture of him and Kim at the spring fling.

Tommy put his hand to his chin and looked out the window. Kim couldn't possibly have forgotten all of her past- How was that even possible? She couldn't be playing a joke on him; even Kim wasn't that good of an actor. Besides, the look in Jason's eyes always gave away what he was feeling and in them Tommy saw worry.

Could she have gotten into an accident and lost her memory that way? No, Jason would have told him if there had been an accident. Yet, there was the accident when she had injured her ankle and that is how she met Nick. Tommy would bet everything that he owned that Nick was behind all of this, but how?

The mantel clock struck five as Tommy continues to flip the pages of his yearbook. With every picture he saw of the past, his heart broke a little more. He finally gave up at around six and decided that he had better get ready for school.

While Tommy was in the shower, a thought struck him. He could test the medicine that Kim was taking to find out what exactly was in it, but how to test it. Tommy didn't have the lab equipment in his basement anymore. He had given it all to Haley when she had left to open her own lab.

Tommy racked his brain for anyone who had access to lab equipment; it had to be someone he could trust.

_Billy_, he suddenly thought as he stepped out of the shower. Why hadn't he thought of that sooner? Since leaving Angel Grove, Billy had gotten a degree in biochemistry and ran his own lab.

Tommy left for school that morning in higher spirits, but it didn't last long. How exactly was he going to get a hold of the pills?

As he was driving towards the school he passed a car pulled over on the side of the road with its flashers on. Checking to make sure he had time, Tommy pulled over to help the distressed car. Once again, he marveled at how much people spent on their cars. It was a new black Pontiac Solstice.

Tommy got out of his car and began to walk over to the woman who had her head stuck under the engine. Her long brown hair was pulled back into a ponytail; she was wearing a black tank top and a pair of denim shorts.

Not wanting to startle her, Tommy stood back a little and said, "Need any help?"

The woman didn't pull her head out from under the engine, but shouted over her shoulder, "That would be wonderful."

Tommy stopped a few feet short of the car. Her voice sounded familiar, but was muffled because she was under the hood. Quickly shaking off the feeling, he approached the car and stuck his head under the hood. Casually glancing over, Tommy's mouth dropped when he saw whose head was next to his.

"Kim?"

She turned her head to face him and a surprised look sprung to life on her face.

"Dr. Oliv… I mean Tommy. It's good to see you again so soon."

Tommy's heart went into overdrive. Was she really that happy seeing him again so soon? "It's good to see you, too. Need any help?" He mentally kicked himself for noticing how close his lips were to hers. He could smell the subtle scent of her lip balm.

"Yeah, I don't know what's wrong with my car and I'm due at the hospital soon," she replied, turning back to the engine.

Tommy shook his head. "I thought you had a red car."

Kim giggled. "I do, and this is one of my other cars. I just like my red one the best."

"You have two cars?" Tommy asked with his mouth open.

"I have three, actually," Kim confessed. "The red Jaguar, this one, and then I have a green mustang with white racing stripes."

Tommy shook his head and replied, "That's a lot of cars, Kim."

"I know, but Nick insists on buying me a car almost every time we have a fight."

Kim shifted and that is when Tommy noticed the large bruise on her arm. His blood began to boil, he wanted to murder Nick for touching Kim like that. Tommy was about to ask about the bruise, when Kim caught the direction of his gaze.

"Oh, I'm bruising myself all the time, I'm so clumsy," she said in a dismissive tone.

Not wanting to accuse her of lying, he took out his frustrations on the car. After about ten minutes of fiddling, he finally told her to start it. After the engine turned over, the car purred like a kitten.

"Oh thank you so much Tommy, how much?" Kim asked as she reached for her purse.

Tommy's eyebrows shot up. "Uh, I can't take your money."

Kim shook her head. "Nonsense, I have paid people for less work than that."

As she extracted her wallet, Tommy saw her prescription bottle fall and roll under the car. Tommy flattened himself on his stomach, now was his chance. As he was on the ground, he heard Kim ask him what he was doing.

Pocketing the bottle he quickly lied, "Dropped some change."

Kim nodded and said, "Well I had better get to the hospital."

"Is Nick hurt?" Tommy inquired with fake sincerity

"No," Kim said as she shook her head. "I read fairytales to the children there."

"Ah, I see," he said and then added, "It's all about a prince riding around on a white horse."

Kim laughed and replied, "What about a white tiger?"

Tommy's heart stopped. Had she actually said that? Did she still remember some things?

Seeing the look on his face, she quickly apologized, "I don't know where that came from. I'm so sorry if I offended you."

"No, you didn't offend me, I just never thought about that," Tommy said as he waved her apology away.

Not wanting to look at Kim, he took a glance at his watch and cursed under his breath. He had ten minutes to get to school. Muttering a quick goodbye, Tommy headed back to his jeep and drove off thinking about what he had just heard Kim say.

0:)

The day flew by and Kim found herself in the practice area of her gymnasium, staring off into space. She couldn't help but think about Tommy's reaction to the one little phrase. He had looked so surprised to hear her say that. Kim searched her brain, trying to remember where she had heard that from.

Every time she thought about it, though, all she thought about was him. She couldn't help but remember how close they had been under the hood of her car. How he had smelt so good and masculine. Kim was so lost in her thoughts about Tommy she didn't realize that one of her gymnasts had spoken to her. Shaking her head she turned to address Heather.

"So sorry Heather, I was daydreaming. What did you say?"

Heather began to rub chalk on her hands and replied, "I'm done on the mats, do you want me to start on the bars?"

Kim thought for a minute and then answered, "Yeah I want you to start with some tick-tocks and then I will come over and help you with some skin-the-cats rotations."

Heather nodded and headed over to do her workout. Kim watched her go and thought about going back into gymnastics. When she had married Nick, he had asked her to give it up, saying he didn't want her to get hurt. Kim once again became lost in her thoughts about Tommy and gymnastics.

Why shouldn't she take up gymnastics? She was still in pretty good shape and all of her injuries had healed. Kim thought about it as she headed off to help Heather and the others with their warm-ups.

Half an hour of twits, turns, and flips, it was time for lunch. Kim looked down at her watch and saw that it was time to take her medication. She vacated the floor and instead of going to the kitchens, she went up to her office. She pulled her purse from its place and looked for her bottle. Kim flew into a panic when she found that she had lost her prescription. She practically ripped her office apart looking for it. Once she was sure it wasn't in her office she gathered that she had just left it at home. Kim couldn't exactly run home and get it. She also knew better than to disturb Nick while he was at work. So she decided to forego taking her medication for today. _So I don't take my medicine for one day_, Kim thought. _What's the worst that can happen?

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_Hello again, so as always brownie points if you can name the episode. As it stand TKcola5 and jps1926 are in the lead with all three correct. Keep up the good work guys. I have the weekend off of work and will be typing furiously away because my imagination has been in overdrive. Hope to see ya all real soon :)


	9. The Effects

It had been a long day. Kim was ready to go home and take a nice hot bath. Instead of leaving at five o'clock, like she normally did, she had decided to help the kitchen staff since they were short in workers.

Kim thought over her entire day, especially the afternoon. Considering she hadn't taken her prescription, she felt pretty damn good. So far she hadn't had any of the unbearable headaches or pains; nothing. She was even starting to debate over asking Nick if she could stop taking it all together.

Kim stepped out into night; the cool air was washing over her heated face. The only source of light was the stars shinning overhead.

Kim was digging through her purse, looking for her keys, when she heard a strange noise. Stopping dead in her tracks, she cautiously looked behind her.

Nothing.

Seeing that she was alone, she continued the journey to her car, only to stop a few seconds later. This time, she turned completely around with her arms raised to protect herself. Seeing nothing once again, she turned back around and started to walk faster to her car. She was almost there, when something jumped out in front of her.

Kim jumped and looked down at the small animal that had just jumped in front of her- it was a toad. Hand over her heart, she tried to get her breathing under control. For such a small animal, it had given her quite a fright. Safely in her car, she was about to put her seatbelt on when an image flashed into her mind…

_Kim watched as a gigantic toad unrolled his disgusting tongue and captured Jason. Jason screamed as he was being eaten by the toad. Kim started forward, trying to think of a way to save Jason, stopping, only when she realized that if she got to close, the toad would try to eat her next. As she watched the monster digest her friend she noticed an unusual pattern on his neck. _

_Kim turned to Billy and said, "Take a look at his neck, I'll bet that's his weak spot."_

_The toad then began to charge towards them, muttering something about dessert. Kim heard Billy say from her right that he could get the toad with his blade blaster if they switched positions. While they swapped, the toad took advantage and sucker punched them both._

_They both fell to the ground, but Billy was the first to recover. _

"_He's mine!" Billy declared as he leapt into the air. _

_Kim shouted a caution at him, but it was too late. The toad's tongue shot out and captured him. She watched as Billy was devoured by the toad, shouting his name as if he could hear her. _

_As she was pulling up her power bow to deliver an arrow to the evil toad, she was pushed by a baboon. As the baboon and toad advanced, Kim lost all patience. She fired three arrows at the toad, striking him in the neck. She then shot some more arrows, once again striking the toad, but this time she released her friends. Each of her newly freed teammates dealt a blow to the toad, but it was Kim who dealt the last one. She fired an arrow that the toad swallowed, causing it to blow up. _

_While twirling her power bow she said, "Nobody messes with my friends." _

Kim's hands were gripping the steering wheel as she recovered from the shock of the dreamlike vision. Where had it come from and how did she know exactly who the people in it were? Jason and Billy had both been wearing a mask.

She was, however, forced to put such questions aside, as her cell phone rang. Kim checked the caller id and saw that it was Nick. He had been calling every ten minutes for the last hour, wondering where she was.

Not wanting to deal with him, Kim ignored the call, started the car, and began the drive to her home and most likely to her pissed off husband.

0:)

Tommy sat in his office pouring over his computer, trying to find something that might help his problem with Kim. He picked up the orange bottle for what felt like the millionth time that night. Twirling the tiny container in his hand, he read the prescription: _take a pill with every meal_.

Finally giving up, Tommy picked up the phone and dialed the number that Jason had given him. It rang a couple of times before a familiar voice answered.

"Cranston residence, Billy speaking."

"Hey Billy, it Tommy," he said tentatively

Billy's eyes widened as he heard the familiar voice. "Tommy? Man I haven't heard from you a blue moon. How have you been?"

Tommy laughed at the old joke. When Billy had become the blue ninja ranger he had begun to use the phrase 'blue moon'. "I've been fine, teaching can be a hassle, but I love it."

They exchanged pleasantries for about an hour. Since leaving the team, Billy had opened his own lab, which was flourishing. He had also discovered a rare element that could be manipulated into almost anything and he had gotten married to a wonderful scientist named Holly, who was currently pregnant with twins.

"It's a handful sometimes, but I wouldn't have it any other way," Billy finished, as he switched the phone from one hand to the other.

Tommy lapsed into silence; he was trying to form a plan in his mind of bringing the subject of Kim up. Billy, however, was the first to lead into the subject.

"So, tell me why you really called, Tommy? Don't say it's because you just wanted to talk, because I know better than that. Besides if you wanted to talk you would have called earlier."

Tommy frowned; he had forgotten how Billy could always tell when something was wrong. Taking a deep. breath Tommy began to explain. "It's Kim. She recently moved here and she doesn't remember me at all. She doesn't even remember about our time as rangers. I think that her husband is behind this and so I kind of took her medication and was wondering if you could test it."

Tommy heard Billy sigh before he responded. "I was wondering when Kim was going to be brought up. Jason told me that you and she had had a run in. We have also been wondering what is going on with her and I for one, would like to get to the bottom of it. If you send a small dose of the medication over to the lab I will test it myself and get the results back to you."

Tommy thanked Billy for all his help and then hung the phone up, but he didn't go to bed. Instead, he went into the kitchen to get himself a glass of water. As he poured a glass he wondered how Kim was doing without her medication. He prayed to God that it was the medication that was causing her to lose her memory. If not, if he was wrong then there was a real chance that he was putting her through pain. That was a thought that he couldn't bare.

Staring out the window, Tommy thought of all the things that he and Kim had been through. He wondered what would happen if it was revealed that Nick was the culprit. His mind entertained the thought of Kim getting a divorce from the bastard and running into his open and waiting arms. Despite knowing he couldn't think about her like that, it was too difficult to resist. He realized that he was in love with her, he wondered if he had ever stopped. So he didn't have a choice but to save her. He just wished he knew what he was protecting her from.

Tommy finally realized how tired he was as the clock struck midnight. Knowing he had a test to give the following day he decided that he had better get to sleep. As he found some much needed rest, his dreams were filled with Kim. Little did he know that on the other side of town, her dreams were also filled with him…

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Hello everyone, I hope that you are enjoying the story thus far. I hope that it's going to get intresting soon, so be prepared. As always brownie points if you can tall me what Kim's vision is from, episode title please. Anyway I'm busy working on Chapter 10 and hope to update by early next week. See ya'll soon :)


	10. Side Effects

Kim pulled into the garage quietly, singing along with the radio. As she got out of the car and came into the house, Nick was on her heels. Kim continued to walk to her room, her husband following her like a lost puppy.

"Why didn't you answer your phone?" he demanded. "I tried to call you a million times."

Kim rolled her eyes. "No, you called about twenty and I was busy."

Nick crossed his arms. "What could be more important than answering my calls?"

"Because," Kim spun around and faced him, "I was working and I didn't have time to answer my phone."

Nick seemed taken back. "Don't take that tone of voice with me, Kimberly."

Kim threw her hands up in disgust. "I'm your wife, Nick, not your daughter. I will talk to you however I want to."

Nick made to grab her arm, but thought better of it. If she wanted to go down this road, then she would take the consequences. He would make her pay for it later.

Kim went into the bathroom and slammed the door. Who did he think he was? Talking to her as if she were a child and not his equal.

Deciding that she needed to relax, Kim drew a nice, hot bath. After settling in the tub, her thoughts roamed to the trance that she had gone into. The whole experience just puzzled her. Was it possible that that had actually happened and that she had just forgot about it? Kim didn't think so; after all, how could she forget something as memorable as that? No, it was most likely nothing more than a figment of her imagination.

Happy with the answer that she had come to, Kim relaxed in the tub. The stress of the day just seemed to melt away. Leaning her head back, she thought of the papers that she had found in Nick's study. Should she ask Nick about his obsession or should she just forget about it? Forgetting about it was out of the question. For some reason the photographs of the pink ranger stirred certain feelings in her. Kim couldn't quite put a name to those feelings yet, but they definitely weren't normal.

While she was on the thought of normal feelings, she considered her feelings for Tommy. Was it possible that she liked him more than just a friend? Had they once shared more than friendship, long ago? Kim suspected that they had shared a lot more than just friendship, especially with the way that he looked at her… with such longing. She couldn't exactly deny the way her heart leapt when he smiled.

_Even the memory of it makes me smile_, Kim thought as a small smile spread across her face.

She was jarred for her thoughts as she heard a clock chime ten somewhere in the distance. Kim decided that it was for the best if she got out of the tub. Once she was dressed in her satin nightgown, she opened the door and came face-to-face with Nick.

"About damn time," he said with his arms folded over his chest.

Not wanting to deal with him or the irritability that he usually brought. Kim scoffed and pushed past him. It seemed, however, that Nick didn't want to give up that easily.

"Did you hear me Kimberly?"

Rolling her eyes, Kim answered. "Yes, but I'm choosing to ignore you."

The anger in Nick began to boil- how dare she ignore him? He was her master and she was the puppet.

"Why?"

Kim sighed and turned to face him. "Because I'm tired of this crap. You always treat me like a child. Like you have control over me or something. Well newsflash, Nick, you can't control me anymore than you can control the weather."

"You are my wife, Kimberly, therefore I do control you," Nick retorted.

Kim rolled her eyes and began to turn away when Nick grabbed her arm.

"Don't walk away from me Kimberly!"

Kim felt herself snapping- she wasn't going to stand for this. Before he could stop her, Kim spun around and clocked Nick on the side of the head.

Nick looked at Kim with surprise; none of his other prizes had ever hit him. Was it possibly an affect of the drug? None of his other trophies had ever been under the influence of the drug this long. Nick stood up quickly, excused himself, went to his study, and locked the door.

Not feeling a bit of remorse for hitting her husband, Kim crawled into bed and finally let the exhaustion carry her off to sleep. That night, she had strange dreams, dreams containing Tommy. The entire dream was in a series of flashes, him spinning her around, giving her a piggy back ride, walking along the lakeshore, having a picnic, and dancing while fighting gray monsters.

As Kim awoke the next morning, she pondered the dream and the ones that had come before it. Was it possible that they were real? Having no real answers to them, she did the only thing that made any sense. Putting on her robe, Kim went in search of the phone. She found it sitting on the kitchen counter, picked it up, and dialed the number. It rang four times and then went to voice mail.

A familiar voice stated its greeting: "Hey, I'm not here, you know what to do."

Kim waited for the beep and the said. "Hey it's me, Kim, and anyway I kind of need your help with something. Nick is gone and I will be home all day, so just come over when you get a chance. Hope to see you soon, bye."

Kim hung the phone up and then went to get ready for the day.

0:)

Tommy finished passing the tests out and was now sitting at his computer checking his e-mail. He had sent Billy a sample of Kim's medication that morning. Even though it was impossible, Tommy was still checking his e-mail for a possible reply from Billy.

Nothing.

Tommy sighed and began to weave in and out of the desks checking for anyone trying to cheat. Satisfied, for the present, Tommy went back to his computer and, after checking his e-mail, opened a browser. He typed in a quick search for 'memory suppressant drugs,' but he found nothing other than people who had written fictional stories on it.

Tommy sighed and looked up just in time to see a young girl, Katrina, leaning forward and looking down her own shirt. Curiously, he began to walk around the room and this time he watched Katrina out of the corner of his eye. Once he was certain she was checking her cheat sheet, he quietly made his way over to her. Tommy at once saw the tiny piece of paper taped to the inside of her low cut blouse. The paper, luckily, was taped high enough that he wasn't exposed to anything else.

Having a no cheating policy, Tommy grabbed the test and began to rip it up in front of Katrina.

Once he was done he turned to her and said, "You know that I have a no cheating policy. Therefore you will receive an F not only on this test, but on the next two tests as well. It doesn't pay to cheat, Katrina."

Katrina, red faced, sank into her chair and refused to look up at Tommy and as soon as class was over, she was the first one out of there.

Time passed quickly and before Tommy knew it, it was lunch time. Grabbing his jacket, he almost made it to the door when his computer started to beep. Tommy ran over and flung himself in the chair. He hurriedly typed in his password '_Green Ranger_' and clicked on the e-mail he had just received from Billy.

_Tommy I just got the package, I'm testing it now, and will have your answer to you by this evening at the latest._

Sighing in relief, Tommy went to lunch in much higher spirits than he had been in all week.

Tommy chose to eat his sandwich outside today. He found a nice bench and began to eat when he remembered that he had yet to tell Jason of his little plan. So, Tommy pulled out his cell phone and dialed his friend's number. It rang four times and then went straight to voice mail.

A cool voice began: "Hey, I'm not here, you know what to do."

Tommy waited for the beep and then started: "Hey, Jase, something has happened regarding Kim and I wanted to tell you, so just give me a call back when you have a chance. Hope to hear from you soon, bye."

As he hung up the phone, Tommy heard a familiar voice coming from across the grounds. Looking up, he saw a woman with reddish, brown hair walking arm in arm with a blond haired man. Tommy's jaw dropped when he saw who the two people were… It was Haley and she was walking into the school with none other than Nick Sanders.

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All righty, I hope that you have enjoyed this story, thus far. It should be picking up soon. As always please review and brownie points for the episode title that the dream came from. Ta ta for now 0:)


	11. The Dam Breaks

Nick couldn't believe his luck.

He looked next to him at the beautiful woman that he had chosen as his next trophy. Although he regretted having to dispose of Kim, he knew that soon she would regain her fiery spirit and he couldn't have that. It was too much of a risk not to, besides he was getting bored with her anyway.

Momentarily forgetting thoughts about his wife, he continued toward the high school entrance with Hayley, before their path was suddenly blocked.

"Hayley Rodman! How have you been?"

Nick glared as Tommy called to Hayley, but he was even more disappointed to see Hayley's reaction.

"Tommy! What a surprise!" Hayley said as she hugged him.

Tommy returned the embrace and smiled at the uncomfortable look on Nick's face. He couldn't wait to get the results from Billy and put the scum bag in jail.

He turned to Nick, "It's good to see you again, Dr. Sanders."

Nick returned the greeting in a very hostile manner. He couldn't believe the nerve of him, acting as if he had a right to interrupt him while he was working. How was he supposed to seduce Hayley with this nuisance around? Also, Tommy's new found confidence was driving him more insane by the minute. Who, exactly, did he think he was?

Tommy turned back to Hayley. "What brings you by the high school, Hayley?"

Shrugging her shoulders, Hayley answered, "I came to have a look at some faulty lab equipment in lab three, at Dr. Sanders request of course."

Nick perked up at the mention of his name. "Yes it was a gift to the school, a very generous one, I might add."

Tommy turned to Nick. "You bought the equipment?" He asked, meaning to cut him down a little. "They never told us the name of the person who donated the previously used equipment."

Nick wanted to erupted, the audacity of him. Cutting him down like that in from of his next trophy. Oh Tommy was going to pay; Nick would make sure of it.

Except for Hayley spoke at that exact moment. "Tommy why don't you come with us."

Tommy agreed and the group went inside the school and towards their destination.

He secretly smiled on the inside as he caught Nick's face of mingled fury at Hayley's glee. On the way to the lab Hayley told him almost everything that had happened since she had sold the Cyber Café. As they entered the lab, the warning bell rang and Tommy excused himself. As he hugged Hayley goodbye, he told her to stop by more often. Walking back to his classroom, he realized how much he had missed the spunky red-head.

That afternoon, Tommy caught no less than seven kids cheating on their exam. He didn't think that his test had been that hard at all. Each way was as unique as the one before it. One student, Mitchell, had used a system to where he had written the answers on gum wrappers. Tommy had figured out what was going on by his fifth piece of gum.

When the bell rang at the end of the day Tommy grabbed his the tests and stuffed them in his brief case. He was going to go home, shut himself in his study, grade papers, and wait anxiously for an e-mail or phone call from Billy.

0:)

Kim was putting a glass away when the door bell rang. Turning around, she shouted for he person to come in.

As Jason walked through the door, Kim immediately gave him a big hug. "Jason, I'm so glad you came."

Jason stopped and asked in amazement, "Did you just call me Jason?"

"Well, it is your name," Kim stated as she playfully hit his shoulder.

Jason couldn't believe his ears. Kim had actually gotten his name right, for the first time in almost seven years.

"Would you like anything to drink?" Kim asked as he sat down.

Jason shook his head and asked, "So what is it that you wanted to talk to me about?"

Kim shifted in her seat uneasily. "Well, for the past couple of days, I have been having these really strange dreams."

Jason listened intently, hoping that this meant that she was getting better.

Kim took a deep breath and then began to explain. "Well, it started out the night of the party. I told you about that dream, right?"

Jason shook his head yes.

"Well, a couple of nights after that I had another dream. I was standing in a circular room, talking to a floating head. Then I was blinded by a white light and then I fainted. As I came to I heard a voice say 'It's time to wake up, beautiful'. A couple of nights after that, I had a dream about you and Billy getting eaten by a giant toad. And last, but not least, I had a dream about Tommy and me dancing while fighting these gray monsters… that one was last night. Anyway I was just, kind of hoping that you could help me make sense of it. Do they remind you of anything?"

Jason watched as Kim looked at him hopefully. Just as he was about to open his mouth and let the truth rush out, the front door banged open.

Kim had never seen Nick so frustrated and his look didn't improve when he caught sight of her sitting on the couch, in close proximity, with Jason.

Biting her lip tentatively, she asked, "Honey, what are you doing home so early?"

Nick stalked to her and yelled, "Why do you want to know, huh? Are you mad that I caught you cheating on me?"

Kim quickly shook her head. "Jason and I were just talking."

"Yeah right," was all Nick could manage.

"Nicolas Jeremiah Sanders!" Kim drew up to her full height. "How dare you call me a liar! You have no reason to believe that I would cheat on you."

Kim then surprised everyone around her. She drew her hand back and slapped Nick soundly across the face. She then stormed up the stairs and slammed the bedroom door shut.

The night wore on with not much commotion going on, until later, that is.

Tommy was grading papers, when the phone rang. Grabbing the phone in a haste that almost made him drop it.

"Hello," he quickly greeted into the phone.

"Tommy, its Billy. I have the test results. Kim's medication is a drug called Halcion."

Tommy racked his brain, but he came up with nothing, he didn't know what Halcion was.

So instead he asked, "What?"

"It's was drug used by the CIA in the early seventies to suppress people's memories. Its side affects made the taker submissive, like they had no mind of their own. Tommy you have to get Kim away from Nick, now. There is no telling how long she had been under the influence and it could permanently damage her long term memory."

Tommy didn't even bother to say goodbye, he just hung up the phone. He tore through his house, grabbing his keys and jacket. Tommy started the car and began to drive, but it was only then that he realized that he didn't even know where Kim lived.

He dialed Jason's number with an aggravated necessity.

"Hello." Jason said as he picked up his phone.

"Jase, its Tommy, look I don't have time to explain, but I had Billy test Kim's medicine and he discovered it's a memory suppressant drug. I'm going to get Kim right now. Where does she live?"

"1116 N. Buena Vista, way out in the hills. There is a small barn just behind the house." He repeated almost mechanically. Before Tommy could hang up Jason urged, "And Tommy, hurry, last I saw of Nick, he had murder in his eyes."

Tommy closed his cell and began to speed towards the address, praying to God that he wasn't to late.

Kim paced up and down her bedroom, thoughts whirling around in her head. She had been so close to finding out what they had all meant, but Nick had walked in. Still pissed off at him for accusing her of cheating, she had stayed in her room the entire night. Where, Nick was Kim didn't know or care. She was beginning to wonder what she had ever seen in the man.

As she sat down, it was like a dam had finally broken within her mind. Everything came rushing back to her, her time as a ranger, the truth serum, her broken ankle, everything.

Angry tears welled up in her eyes as the memories washed over her. In a fury she didn't know she possessed, she ran for the door. Pulling it open, she could only gasp as she came face to face with Nick. In the dim light she could make out the rage in his eyes.

She looked into his eyes and she asked in a low, horrified voice. "What the hell have you done to me?"

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Okay so here is the long awaited chapter. My b-day is on tuesday and I work the rest of this week so the next chapter might not be up for a while, so I thought I would leave you all with a cliff hanger. Have fun and catch ya all on the flip side :) If you want to give me a birthday present, REVIEW, please!


	12. Identity Revealed

Kim knew that she had to get away from Nick as soon as possible. She didn't know what he had done to her to make her forget her past, but she wasn't in a hurry to stay and find out. Besides, Nick was capable of almost anything and with the unpredictable she didn't want to face him alone. So, acting on her first instinct, she quickly pushed past him and tried to run down the stairs.

Nick, however, had other plans. As Kim was about halfway down the steps, he caught up with her and threw her down the rest. When she arrived at the bottom, Kim tried to stay awake, but found the need to sleep was too overwhelming. The last thing she remembered, was two very cold fingers on her neck.

Nick bent down to check his wife's pulse to make sure she wasn't dead. Once he was satisfied that she was alive, he straightened up just in time to hear the door of a car slam nearby. Quickly peering out the window, he saw Tommy sprinting up to the house. Nick hid in the hall closet and waited for his unwelcome visitor to come inside.

_Might as well kill two birds with one stone_, Nick thought as he crouched in the closet, ready to attack. As he squatted, he thought of the perfect plan. He would kill Tommy and Kimberley and then he would stage it as a lovers spat gone wrong. Then, he and Hayley would help each other through the pain.

_Perfect_, he thought, as he heard the front door bang open.

Tommy didn't even bother to knock on the door. Finding it unlocked he just bust through it, his heart racing into overdrive at what he might find inside the house. When he saw Kim lying in a heap at the bottom of the staircase, he immediately went to her and checked for a pulse. She was still breathing, her pulse was strong, and nothing seemed to be bleeding.

After he was sure that Kim was alive, Tommy turned around and began to look for Nick. He was going to the rip that man limb from limb for hurting Kim. After a frivolous search found him nothing, a defeated Tommy just figured that the bastard had made a run for it and turned back to Kim.

Nick, with as much stealth as he possessed, crept out from the hall closet with a baseball bat in hand. He had it raised and was ready to strike, when Tommy turned around. Knowing about his martial arts skills, Nick had a few seconds to strike and strike he did. He brought the bat down hard on Tommy's head, with a resounding crack, causing him to fall in a pile right next to Kim.

Nick smiled down at his two helpless and unconscious victims. He had forgotten what a rush it was to commit a murder and this was going to be a double murder.

Dropping the bat on the floor, he turned to the task of dragging the bodies out to the barn in the backyard. The adrenaline was pumping through his veins as he grabbed one of the comatose bodies. He took Kim first and tied her almost lifeless form to a chair, where she would have a perfect view. Then, he dragged Tommy out to the barn and strung him up with a rope that was connected to a metal chain and thrown over one of the barn's rafters. He made sure that Tommy was facing Kimberly, so she could see her beloved white knight being tortured and ultimately killed.

Once the love birds were in place, Nick walked over to his tool box and began to choose his weapons. As he sifted through his many choices, Nick wondered how he would stage it. Would the killer be Kimberly or Tommy? He also had to come up with an alibi, maybe he would just go to Hayley's. He could tell her that he and Kimberly had just had a big fight.

Nick just had to smile at his own genius, this would be murder number four and he would get away with it, as he always did. There would, of course, be people who didn't believe him, but there wouldn't be enough proof to arrest him.

Just like all the other times.

As Nick had picked out his weapons, he heard Kimberly begin to stir.

_Showtime,_ Nick thought as he turned to watch.

Kim's eyes fluttered open and began to drink in the scene before them.

As she looked up, she saw Tommy's unconscious form hanging from one of the rafters. There was dried blood on his face and the way he hung, so limply, made Kim want to cry. As she struggled against her bonds, she heard a quiet laugh coming from somewhere behind her.

"It's no use, Kimberly, the more you fight it, the tighter the knots will become."

Kim's eyes widened in fear as she heard Nick's voice in her ear and she shuddered as his breath caressed her cheek. She tried to reply, but found that her mouth was taped shut. Kim knew that she had to get Tommy out of there. She would never forgive herself if he was killed. So, with renewed strength, Kim began to struggle against the bonds.

Nick laughed at her again and said "Shall we wake your boyfriend up?"

Kim looked up and saw Nick walking towards Tommy with a long, thick metal pipe. She began to protest, but found the tape on her mouth interfered with her actual words. All Nick did was laugh as he pulled the pipe back and swung. Kim screamed as it made contact with Tommy's side. Her eyes filled with tears as she heard him groan and open his eyes. Nick laughed even harder as Kim and Tommy's eyes connected. The tears were now pouring down her face as she looked at her Tommy.

She was forced to watch as Nick took swing after swing at Tommy. Each time earning a louder protest through his tape.

After a while, Nick took a rest, but the manic smugness remained. "Kind of like a human piñata, only I won't be getting candy when he busts."

Kim began to scream through the tape, trying to get Nick's attention. It worked, and he sauntered over to her.

"Would you like to take a swing at him, dear?" he asked, holding the bat out to her.

Kim tried to communicate to him with her eyes, but to no avail. After no answer, he quickly turned back to Tommy. Kim knew that several more hits would likely kill Tommy, so she began to work her tongue against the tape. A couple of minutes passed by and she was able to loosen the hold. Just as Nick brought the pipe back, Kim finally got the tape to give way.

"NO!" she shouted as he began to swing.

Nick turned and looked at her with surprise. Kim was panting from working against the ropes that were now digging into her skin.

"Please, Nick, don't hurt him. Let him go!" Kim pleaded.

"Let him go?" Nick asked. "Why should I? This man has made my life a living hell since we were kids."

A grunt of confusion came from Tommy's taped mouth.

"Perfect Tommy Oliver, had everything; looks, friends, and he always got the girl," Nick continued. "Nobody cared that he and his friends picked on me for being strange. When I thought I had finally found a girlfriend, he took her away from me. Even now, he's taken away my wife and possibly my next trophy. So no Kimberly; I'm not going to just let him go."

"What are you talking about Nick?" Kim asked.

"I'm talking about killing the man that made my elementary and junior high life miserable."

Tommy grunted and began to shake his head.

"Of course you know me, Oliver, though not by the name Nick Sanders. You knew me as Nicholai Sauders."

* * *

It's getting juicy now. Sorry I uped the rating, I wanted to be on the safe side. Just think that in about two more chapters this story will be finished. Anyway as always please review, It makes me happy! Ta Ta For Now :)


	13. Events From The Past

Tommy's eyes widened in shock as he realized who the person standing in front of him truly was.

Nicholai had always been the quiet kid in the school, mostly keeping to himself. In elementary school, Tommy's friends had loved to pick on the hermit. Back then, he had had bright red hair, was covered in freckles, and had two different colored eyes; his right was blue and his left was green. His clothes were mostly second hand, worn down, torn in some places, and always too big for him. He had had five siblings and his parents often fought in public, causing him an unbearable amount of embarrassment.

He remembered one time that his friends had hung Nicholai from his pants on a hook in a bathroom stall. Tommy had sent a teacher in there to help get him down afterwards. He was always trying to get his friends to stop picking on Nicholai, but they just wouldn't listen to reason. So, whenever they did something really horrible to him, Tommy made sure that he got a teacher to undo the damage. He always went through an adult because he didn't want his friends to desert him and he didn't want Nicholai to be suspicious of his actions. For, it was obvious that he was a very mistrusting person- he somehow believed that the whole world was out to get him.

During Junior high, his prospects hadn't improved all though Tommy's friends had toned down their torture. And during Tommy's last year before he moved, He witnessed a distinct change in Nicholai following a tragic fire which claimed the lives of his entire family. Despite such a tragic loss, Nicholai seemed empowered, confidence soaring. He started to speak up in their classes and was more comfortable around his piers, but he always had this look in his eyes; a murderous look.

Katrina had been Nicholai's first girlfriend and the two had been quite an item. They went everywhere together, sat together, and even lived next door to each other. By that time, Nicholai had moved in with his aunt and uncle. Yet it was no secret that Katrina didn't have any feelings for Nicholai what so ever, but was only waiting someone else's attention to turn her way- for Tommy's.

Tommy remembered how awkwardly that year had begun for all of them. He and Nicholai had developed a sort of fragile friendship over the school year, despite the fact that Nicholai wasn't very comfortable being friends with the group who made his life a nightmare. They would greet each other in the hallways and they would occasionally sit by each other at pep assemblies or at lunch. They had once been lab partners in Earth Sciences and often sat in close proximity in the classes that they had had together.

One day after karate practice, however, Tommy had stayed behind to work a little more on his jump kicks. Katrina, who had finished cheerleading practice, had come into the small gym to watch Tommy from behind the bleachers. As Tommy was packing up his bag, Katrina came out from behind the bleachers and began to hit on him. Every time she threw herself at him, Tommy denied her; he was friends with Nicholai, after all. Katrina wasn't taking the hint though and after a round of Tommy's consistent turn-downs, she pushed Tommy down on the bleachers and began to kiss him. He pushed her off, but not quick enough and as their lips meet, Nicholai walked in. He had been furious and would not accept any story from Tommy other than what he had seen.

That one mistake marked the day that his tender friendship with Nicholai had been crushed.

As for Katrina, she had mysteriously died only six months after the incident. The police had found her body lying under a pile of trash at her house. They had been called out to her residence after one of her neighbors complained about the noise from a party the cheerleader had decided to throw while her parents were out of town. Her death had been ruled as a tragic overdose and was later laid to rest.

Tommy had last seen Nicholai at their junior high graduation. He had tried to console him at the ceremony, but with the betrayal still fresh in his mind, Nicholai had snubbed Tommy. That summer, Tommy had moved to Angel Grove and he fell out of touch with all his friends in Farmington.

The memories ate at Tommy's body, as he turned his eyes back towards Nick and began to try to speak through the tape.

Nick smiled and said, "Ah, I see that you do remember me and how you used to torture me."

Tommy began to shake his head vigorously, trying to communicate that he had been the one to try and help him in the past. Seeing that his head shaking was getting no where, he tried to speak through his tape, but found that it only came out as muffled speech that no one but he could understand.

Nick's smile was quickly replaced with an angry expression, as he watched Tommy try to defend himself and ignore the past. So, he gave Tommy another hit with the metal pipe for his insolence.

"Don't deny it, Oliver! You helped your pathetic friends torture me and you stole Katrina from me. Don't fret through; she got her payment in full. It was I that killed her at her own party. You would be amazed at how fast Aconite works through the body and how easy it is to hide among food. You will also find that it is one of the few poisons that vanish from the body after a few hours. During elementary school, when I had no friends, I was busy putting together a plan. A plan that would help me kill all those who made my life a living hell. Who do you think started the fire in my childhood home?"

Tommy's eyes widened. During those years, there had been rumors that Nick had been behind it all, but Tommy hadn't believed them. He hadn't wanted to think bad about anyone who he even remotely considered as a friend.

"You'll be happy to know that all of your friends are dead now," Nick continues on with his rant with a glint in his eyes. "I killed them over a long period of time and you are the last one, Oliver. Jacob unfortunately drowned while swimming in his Beverly Hills mansion, hit his head and lost consciousness. Michael was regrettably run over as he was walking back from a friend's house. Peter, sadly, committed suicide when his deal fell through and he lost everything. Jeffery was killed skiing in the Rockies with his wonderful family; he accidentally took a wrong turn and flew off of the mountain. Last, but not least, was Brandon, who was accidentally killed while rock climbing in the cliffs of New Mexico… seems he bought some faulty equipment that gave way about one hundred feet above the ground."

The angry look in Nick's eyes became one of pure bliss, as though he were thinking back to a happier time. He then went into detail about how he had planned, executed, and got away with each and every single murder.

While Nick was talking, Tommy snuck a look at Kim. She was tightly bound to the chair, silent tears were streaming down her face, and her mouth was wide open in horror as Nick rambled on about his murders. It was as though he thought that they were accomplishments rather than horrible deeds.

Nick stopped when he saw where Tommy was looking and smiled evilly.

"You can't imagine what a treat it was to discover that Kimberly was your long time girlfriend. While she was at practice, I gained her trust. I saw her sitting on a bench almost everyday, writing to someone, so one day I asked who she kept writing to. The moment your name left her lips, I immediately began to plan how to bring about your death. So, I rigged the balance beam to shake slightly under her weight and when she fell and sprained her ankle, I injected her with the truth serum. That is when I learned that she had been a power ranger with you. After that, I made any excuse to bring her into my medical office, and would administer the memory suppressant drug, Halcion in order to make her mine. I'll admit that the plan hasn't gone as expected, I didn't plan on having to murder Kimberly too, but you have to make such allowances when exacting revenge. And now, Oliver, I believe it is time that you join your friends. Have fun with them in Hell."

As the Nick cocked and pointed the gun, Kim began to utter protests. Nick calmly walked over to her and re-taped her mouth, seemingly pleased with the tears slipping down her cheeks.

And as the gun went off, Kim screamed through her tape and shut her eyes.

* * *

Just think two more chapters and this story will be done! Please review and make me happy, ta ta for now ;)


	14. Ravings of a lunatic

Kim screamed and began to fight the bonds once again.

She looked up as she heard Nick laughing and saw Tommy's body hanging limply from the rope.

"No!" screamed Kim, as she began to fight harder. She had to reach Tommy before it was too late.

Nick continued to laugh manically as he took a machete and cut Tommy down. He fell into a heap on the floor of the barn, blood streaming out of the bullet wound. Nick then turned his attention to Kim as she struggled against the ropes. They were now digging into her skin and rubbing it raw, but Kim didn't care- she had to get to Tommy. Nick looked down at her and smiled.

"If I thought for one second I could trust you to keep quite about this I wouldn't kill you," he said, as he circled her like a vulture does his dying prey. "But I know how much you loved him, so I'm afraid I will have to dispose of you, Kimberly. Like all the others, you will just get in my way."

Kim looked up at him and choked, "Others- what others?"

Nick smiled evilly. "Oh you think that you are the first person that this has happened to? Well, sadly to say Kimberly, you are not."

Kim's eye widened in shock and horror as she listened to Nick's ratings.

"After junior high, my relatives thought it wise to move me to a different school. Somewhere people weren't whispering behind their hands about me. You see, I put on a façade that what they were saying really hurt me. They were so stupid, but what did I care, I now had fresh hunting ground and I set my sites on the head cheerleader, Jana Morrow. She was the most popular girl in school and I vowed to myself that by the end of high school I would have her and have her I did. Fortunate for me, the blond wasn't very bright, so I had her eating out of my palms within a month."

As Nick had been talking, he had drug out a large trunk, kicked it open, and lifted out a pair of green and white pompoms. He put the poms to his face and inhaled, as if he could still smell Jana's perfume on them.

With a murderous smile he continued, "I can still hear her begging for me not to kill her. Like you, she figured out what was going on, but by then it was too late for her to do anything. I remember the night I killed her as if it was yesterday. I had just taken her to prom and later we went to a hotel room. After I had had my fun, I slipped some belladonna in her glass of wine and once she was dead, I emptied about eight bottles of wine and threw the remains around her." Nick laughed as he added. "The idiot police ruled her death as alcohol poisoning and from there I went off to medical school."

Nick threw the poms back into the trunk and began to circle Kim again. She turned her head from side to side so that she could see Nick; she somehow seemed entranced by his words. How could someone who seemed so sweet turn out to be so evil?

"At college I met a wonderful woman named Ariel. She was the exact opposite of Jana and so I chose her as my next trophy. Ariel, however, was smarter than Jana, so I had to be extremely careful about how I went about drugging her. It took me about a year to do it properly, but once I had her, it was heavenly. She bent to my every whim and was way more stimulating that Jana, but all great things must come to an end. During my last year in medical school, she to figured out what was going on."

As Nick talked, he pulled out a woman's sweater and a lock of reddish brown hair. He smelled the sweater and sighed, like he had done with the pompoms.

Rubbing the lock of hair on his cheek he continued, "I can still hear her scream as the poison worked through her body. After classes, I found her sleeping in her dorm room; she had been avoiding me the entire week. I figured that she knew what I had done to her, so I snuck into her room and injected her with Black Widow spider venom. The moment the needle pierced her flesh she woke up. I restrained her as the poison worked its way through her body. She writhed in pain and I saw the light leave her eyes as she died. It was an empowering feeling and I'll have to admit, I rather enjoyed taking peoples lives."

Nick then stopped and smiled at Kim as he drew a very odd looking doll from the trunk. Kim gasped as she saw the doll, the moment she set eyes on it she knew who the doll belonged to.

"Mr. Ticklesneezer," Kim let out in a quite whisper. She turned to look back at Nick and tried to lunge forward. "What have you done to Trini?" she screamed.

Nick laughed and replied, "Don't you remember? Trini has been dead for almost five years now."

Kim began to shake her head hysterically. She didn't want to believe that her best friend was dead, killed by this maniac.

"Yes, but then of course you won't remember." Nick threw the doll at Kim and continued, "She had come out with us to dinner and noticed immediately the change in your behavior. When I excused myself to go to the restroom, I overheard her tell you that something was wrong and you believed her! So, when she went to check her voicemail, I slipped outside and cut her brakes. She died in a car crash a few miles down the road from the restaurant. The next day I upped your meds and by the end of the day you didn't even know the name Trini and you obviously didn't go to the funeral."

With tears in her eyes Kim, looked down at the doll lying at her feet. How could she have brought so much pain to those around her? This was all her fault. Trini's death Tommy's; hers -all of it, because she had chosen to befriend the shy guy.

Nick stepped in front of her and with a finger, lifted her chin up.

"It's a damn shame that I must dispose of you," Nick said as he had begun to travel down her neck. "You were my best trophy; intelligent, beautiful, and a wildcat in bed."

As his hand grasped her breast, Kim tried to attack, but it was futile as she was tied up.

"See what I mean? You're a fiery, spunky girl. Even through you are tied to a chair, you still try to attack me," Nick choked out through his laughter.

"You are a despicable monster. And make no mistake, Nicholai, you will be caught!" Kim spat

The amused expression on Nick's face vanished, as he turned to look at her. "You will not take that tone of voice with me Kimberly, remember I control you still."

Kim was about to retort, when Nick suddenly pressed his lips against hers in a hard passionate kiss. As his tongue snaked into her mouth, Kim closed her teeth around it sharply; Nick pulled away screaming and clutching his mouth.

She looked up at him with a triumphant smile on her face.

Nick's face turned blood red as he pulled a gun out from behind his back. "Do say hello to Trini for me."

Kim closed her eyes as she heard the gun cock. She knew death was coming, but she didn't want to see it, nor did she want to see the look of pure ecstasy on Nick's face. She winced as it went off, but strangely, she felt no pain. Before Kim could open her eyes to check what had happened, she heard a voice.

"No, Nicholai, you go to hell."

Kim's eyes flew open as she saw Tommy standing behind Nick, holding a gun. He was panting hard and leaning heavily against the barn wall.

Dropping the gun, Tommy pushed himself off of the wall and staggered towards Kim. When he reached her, he pulled a knife from his back pocket and began to hack away the ropes.

"Tommy, you're alive!?" Kim choked out through the happy tears streaming down her face.

Tommy laughed harshly, "You know for a doctor, he sure doesn't know how to shoot a person to kill them."

Kim began to rub her now freed wrist as she said, "What do you mean, Tommy?"

"If he had pointed about an inch higher, I would be dead," he explained, as he helped Kim to her feet.

The smile that was beginning to spread across her face vanished as she saw Tommy begin to stagger backwards and collapse. With a pounding head, Kim rushed to her fallen knight.

"Tommy, Tommy- please wake up. You can't leave me, not now not ever. Oh please Tommy, stay with me, stay with me!" Kim pleaded, as she pulled the cell phone out of her back pocket and dialed 911. Once she had told the operator what had happened, she hung up and turned her attention back to Tommy. Fighting the unbearable need to close her eyes, Kim laid down next to him and began to whisper to him.

Kim was only semi-conscious when the ambulance pulled up.

As one of the EMTs rushed over to them, Kim grabbed a hold of her uniform and asked, "Who are you?"

"My name is Jena ma'am," Jena replied, frantic to calm the beaten woman down.

"Jena, save Tommy first. Please save Tommy first, it's all my fault, my fault."

Jena looked over at Lisa as she was checking on the man with the bullet wound.

"Ma'am, my partner, Lisa, is going to help Tommy." Jean assured her and then added to Lisa, "We need to get them to the hospital."

"This guy has already lost a lot of blood; I don't know if he will make it," Lisa replied as she looked at her partner.

As she looked past Jena, Lisa saw another body lying in the dust. She pointed it out to Jena, who immediately went over to see if the man was alive.

"This one's dead," Jena called over her shoulder, as she checked for his pulse.

When they put Tommy and the woman onto stretchers, they noticed that the woman was clinging to Tommy as if he were life itself. Then with the siren's blaring, they rushed off to the hospital to save the two people in the back.

* * *

Almost done! Now I hope that you guys didn't really think that I would actually kill one of greatest and hottest rangers in the history of the show. I want to especially thank Jena and Lisa who not only saved Tommy and Kim's lives, but they are the winners of my brownie points contest. Congrats girls and a specail thanks to everyone who participated. Sorry for the long update, but I was having problems with my ffnet account as I'm sure we all were. Anyway as always please review and I will see you in the next and final chapter!


	15. Sealed With A Kiss

Over the next couple of days, Kim slipped in and out of consciousness, barley aware of her surroundings. Every time she woke up, she only had enough time to ask about Tommy's condition, before slipping back into sleep.

One afternoon, as the sun shined into her hospital room, Kim tried to turn, but found that her body was in excruciating pain. A quiet moan escaped her lips, but it was enough for the people gathered in her room to hear and become worried.

"Guys, hey guys, I think she's waking up," Emily, said as she bounced up from the chair and dashed to her friend's bedside.

Right behind her was Jason, Billy, Rocky, and Adam. They stood around her bed in a circle, praying that she would stay awake this time.

"Kim, are you awake?" Rocky asked hesitantly.

Adam, who was standing next to him, explained, "Well, she should be waking up; you heard what the doctor said."

"Yeah, but she had a severe concussion and injuries beyond that; that takes time to heal," Billy countered.

Emily, who was leaning on Jason, cried, "Oh, if only I could have been there to help her."

Jason protectively put his arms around Emily and let her cry into his chest for comfort. "There was nothing you could have done," he whispered softly to her, "If you had gone over there you probably would be in the bed right next to her."

Kim heard Emily's soft sobs, Jason's soothing voice, and the hushed voices of three others. Slowly opening her eyes against the bright light in her room, she took a look around. On one side Billy, Rocky, and Adam were deep in conversation over what had happened. On the other, Jason was holding a distraught Emily in his tight, comforting embrace. Kim smiled as she closed her eyes; it was a good feeling to have her friends around her. She was just content to lay there and listen to her friends' soothing voices. As she heard Rocky, Billy, and Adam's conversation, her eyes shot open and all of a sudden she was wide-awake.

"Are you sure that's what your boss said?" Billy asked as he crossed his arms over his chest.

"Yep, word for word," Adam replied as he shook his head.

"So then, why did he send you two? He must know that you are Kim's friends," Jason countered, as he continued to hold Emily.

"Thought we would be able to get the evidence out of her easier, than if someone else came," Rocky replied as he put his hands behind his back. "Besides, it's not like we want to arrest Kim for this."

"Kim would never hire a hit man, much less Tommy," Emily scolded at the boys

"Emily is right," Billy said as he began to pace. "Tommy would never murder someone unless it was in self defense and even then, killing someone is the last option. Tommy also contacted me about Kim's prescription and had me analyze it. It contained a chemical called Halcion, a drug said to be used by the CIA in the early seventies to control people. Further more, if Kim did hire Tommy to kill Nick, why was she so badly beaten up?"

Rocky and Adam looked at each other and then back at their friends.

Adam sighed and admitted, "Look, we all know that Kim would never do this, but the DA thinks that she somehow had a hand in it. Our orders are to take her in for questioning as soon as she is able to move."

"If Kim did hire Tommy, wouldn't there be a paper trail?" Emily challenged with a triumphant look on her face.

Rocky shook his head and said, "Not necessarily; Tommy could have received the money in cash and then deposited it in small amounts to keep the suspicion minimal."

Emily threw her arms up in exasperation. "How can you guys think that about your old friends?"

"We don't think that they did it," Adam countered, "It's just we are trained to think like criminals think. It was part of our FBI training."

Kim lay there shocked. Since when had Rocky and Adam become Federal Agents?

She continued to listen to the conversation, as it soon fell into a hushed shouting match between Emily, Rocky, and Adam. Kim couldn't contain her laughter anymore and soon the room was filled with it, followed immediately by a gasp of pain as it hurt to even giggle. Every head whipped towards her bed as they heard Kim's sudden outburst of life.

"Down Emily," Kim croaked out, as she tried to get the use of her voice back.

The room was soon filled with a chorus of concern and well wishes.

"Do you remember much?" Emily asked hesitantly.

The smile on her face disappeared as the memories came flooding back. The truth was she remembered almost everything. There were parts that were a little fuzzy, but for the most part it was all there.

"I would rather not think about it right now, but to answer your question I remember it all." Kim answered as she looked at Emily.

Emily nodded, turned to the others, and gave them a look that plainly said that if they asked her to tell them the story they would have her wrath to deal with. Kim laid back down, smiling. She was grateful to have such good friends around her. Even after she had been forced not to remember them.

She closed her eyes as a fresh wave of pain washed over her. It was difficult for her to even move without something screaming in protest. Kim desperately wanted to know how Tommy was doing, but before she could ask, her door opened and in stepped Dr. Thomas.

"Ah, Mrs. Sanders…"

"Please, it's Ms. Hart," Kim interrupted

"Well, Ms. Hart, you are finally awake. I must say that you had us worried there for a little bit, but it seems that you are a trooper. How do you feel?"

"Like I have just been run over several times."

"Well, that's to be expected. You have suffered a lot of trauma, but you will be pleased to know that you will make a full recovery."

Kim waved the information aside as she asked, "How's Tommy doing?"

The doctor's face fell as he replied. "Well he is out of surgery, but not out of the woods. He has a lot of broken bones, mostly ribs, and there was some internal bleeding- but, only time will tell if he will live."

With that, the doctor excused himself and left the group to talk about what happened.

Three Months Later 

Tommy looked up from his desk and out at his class. It felt good to be back at school, doing what he loved. Teaching also kept him busy from thinking about Kim and what had happened. It had been three months since he had been discharged from the hospital. He still hurt, but the pain was slowly ebbing away. Soon he would be healed completely and wouldn't have to take his prescription or go to physical therapy.

_Then what?_ Tommy's mind asked him.

He hadn't seen Kim since he had been discharged and he wasn't in a hurry to see her either. No, that was a lie. He wanted to see her more than anything, but he was afraid of getting hurt again. He still didn't know how she felt about him. Had her feelings changed after what they had been through or were they still the same. Tommy's feelings hadn't changed for the pink ranger, even after all of these years. He still loved Kim with all of his heart and more.

Tommy was so caught up in his thoughts that he didn't notice that the bell had rung and that his class was leaving for the weekend. He was only pulled back when he heard a knock on the door and Jason stepped into his classroom.

"Hey bro!" Jason greeted as he walked over to Tommy's desk.

"Hey Jase, what's going on?" Tommy asked as he pushed the thoughts in his mind aside.

"Oh nothing much, just helping Kim out with everything." Jason replied with a casual tone.

Tommy's head snapped to attention as he asked, "What are you helping Kim with?"

Shrugging his shoulders Jason answered, "Oh she moving and she needs some help with some of the stuff."

"Moving!" Tommy almost shouted. "Where is she moving to?"

"I think she said something about France, going to be with her mom." Jason replied as he looked at something a student had written on a desk.

Tommy didn't even say goodbye to Jason. He just grabbed his stuff and ran out of the school, getting curious looks from students and teachers alike. He wrenched the jeep door open and was soon off towards the direction of Kim's house.

He didn't want her to move, not before he had said his piece about how he felt and gotten her response.

-

Kim winced as she put the box that she had been carrying down. She couldn't spend anymore time in this house then she had to. Now that she was no longer under Nick's control she was free to remember anything and everything, but no matter where she looked something reminded her of Nick and the hell he had put her through.

Even though she was still healing, she felt oddly free. It was as though a heavy weight had been lifted off of her mind and her heart. She no longer had the sharp pains in her head, nor did she live in fear of upsetting someone.

Since the incident, Kim had been visited by Emily, Jason, Billy, Rocky, and Adam. They all checked up on her regularly now and talked with her at least once a month on the phone. It was good to remember her friends again and how they were always there for her.

As Kim thought of her friends her thoughts strayed to Trini. The guys had been just as surprised as she had been to find out the Nick had murdered Trini. They had always thought her death had been an very unfortunate accident. The moment she had gotten out of the hospital, Kim had taken a dozen yellow roses to her fallen friend. No matter what anyone told her, she still felt a little bit responsible for Trini's death and that would never change. She also felt responsible for what had happened to Tommy.

Kim's heart broke a little as she thought of her white knight. He was the only one who hadn't talked to her yet. She couldn't help, but think that somehow Tommy didn't want to talk to her about it. Even Rocky and Adam's boss had talked to her about what had happened. After the FBI had searched the barn they found recording of everything that Nick had done and the charges were dropped within the week that she was released from the hospital.

Kim was jarred out of her thoughts as the doorbell began to ring multiple times

"I'm coming, I'm coming." Kim said to herself as she walked over to the door and opened it.

She gave a small gasp of surprise as she saw who was leaning against her front door frame and breathing rather heavily.

"Tommy," Kim choked out

"You can't move to France!" Tommy blurted out.

Kim began to say something, but Tommy interrupted her.

"You're not moving to France, you just can't." Tommy rambled on.

Kim was just getting confused now; who told Tommy that she was moving to France?

"I'll won't…." Tommy began.

"I'm not moving to France." Kim said as she interrupted him.

Tommy looked at Kim and asked, "You're not moving to France?"

Kim smiled and replied, "Yeah, I would never leave here. I mean I have a great business here, not to mention great friends."

Tommy looked at Kim as though he were a deer in the headlights. When he got a hold of Jason he was going to pound him into the ground.

"Well then I guess I had better go then." Tommy said awkwardly as he turned to leave. He really didn't want to go, but he didn't know if Kim wanted him there or not.

Kim watched as Tommy started to turn around. She didn't want him to leave so she quickly said. "No, I mean don't go. Would you like to come in for a minute?"

Tommy stopped and looked at Kim. Were his ears playing tricks on him or had she just told him not to go?

Smiling, Tommy replied, "Sure, why not."

Kim stepped back to let Tommy in, "You'll have to forgive the mess, I'm in the middle of moving."

Tommy noticed that a lot of the boxes were marked charity. He wanted to desperately ask whether or not that was Nick's stuff, but he held his tongue. He wasn't sure if Kim would be comfortable talking about Nick yet or not, after all she had been married to him for seven years.

Kim mentally sighed, Tommy looked like he was recovering nicely and that was a load off of her mind. She had been so worried about him, but she didn't know if he was ready to talk about what had happened. As she looked at him she noticed that he was looking at the boxes marked charity.

"I'm giving all of it away." She explained as calmly as possible.

"Everything?" Tommy questioned.

There was no need to delve any further; they both knew what 'it' was.

"All of Nick's stuff is going to charity, along with the money I get from selling the jewelry and cars. I don't want any of it." Kim said as she sat down on the couch, mentally exhausted.

"How are you feeling?" Tommy asked to hopefully change the subject.

"I still feel stiff and sore, but oddly free. The doctor said that that is normal to have memories and feelings rush back to you. I'm remembering a lot of things, like my love of gymnastics, it's really helped loose up my aching muscles. So how have you been doing?" Kim asked uncomfortably.

"I'm okay; the pain is slowly going away, but I still have to go to physical therapy and take my prescription. Teaching has kept me busy though and it's good to be back at school doing what I love. So do you want to talk about it?" Tommy inquired; he was getting sick of beating around the bush.

"Well, I suppose that you heard from Jason about my little investigation with the FBI." Kim answered thinking that they might as well start with this tidbit of information.

Tommy jumped, "What investigation?"

Kim was somewhat taken back at the surprise in Tommy's voice.

"You mean Jason didn't tell you?" Kim asked with equal surprise in her voice

Tommy winced from getting up to fast, "No he hasn't told me anything" he replied as he gingerly sat back down.

"Well they thought that I had hired you as a hit man to kill Nick. So just before I was released from the hospital they searched the barn. It seems that Nick had videotaped what he did to us. So naturally I was cleared of all charges and there was never a need to contact you. " Kim answered quietly.

Tommy nodded his head and asked, "Do you want to talk about what else happened?"

Kim's eyes darkened as she remembered what had happened. Biting her lip Kim answered his question with one of her own. "Are you really ready to talk about it?"

Tommy smiled lightly and replied, "I've been ready for a long time. Are you ready?"

"I really don't know. Sometimes I lie awake at night thinking about it, only to start crying." Kim quietly admitted as her eyes began to tear up.

Tommy's heart began to break, Kim cried at night over what had happened.

With tears slipping down her face Kim said, "Tommy, it's all my fault, Trini's death, your injuries, everything. How could I have let things get so out of control? I should have been more alert and known that something was up, but I was blind as usual to everything that was going on." As Kim finished she put her face in her hands she let the dam break and the tears flooded down her cheeks.

Tommy threw caution to the wind and gathered the crying Kim up in his arms. He tilted her chin up, looked into her shining eyes, and said, "You can't blame yourself Kim, Nick was sick and he was out for revenge. There was nothing you could have done to stop him and if you had you would have died. Then I would be feeling horrible right now instead of you."

Kim looked into Tommy's eyes with confusion, "Why would you feel horrible? You have done nothing wrong."

"I broke my promise to you Kim." Tommy stated.

"What promise," Kim inquired while searching her memory for anything.

Tommy smiled and said almost breathlessly, "The promise that I would never let anyone hurt you. I promised you on your last night in Angel Grove, don't you remember?"

The memory came flying back to her and Kim smiled as she looked into his eyes, "I can't believe that I ever forgot that and that you still remember that. We were still teenagers."

"Beautiful, I remember everything, including how much I love you." Tommy said as he pulled Kim onto his lap.

"You mean you loved me." Kim corrected assuming it had been a mistake, although she prayed to God that it hadn't been.

Tommy smiled and captured Kim's mouth in a gentle loving kiss. As they pulled apart Tommy replied, "No, Kim I'm still in love with you, even after all these years and all that's happened."

Kim pinched herself, making sure she wasn't dreaming, she wasn't. "Oh Tommy, I still love you too, with all of my heart and more." Kim whispered while gazing into Tommy's dark chocolate eyes.

Tommy took Kim's face into his hands and asked, "Beautiful, would you like to go to diner with me on Friday night?"

Kim's face lit up with a quite joy as she replied, "I would love to handsome."

Tommy smiled and bent his head for another kiss; the whole in his heart was finally filled.

* * *

Finally after one rewrite, a computer crash, and three system restores I've finally finished the last chapter. I would like to thank all of you who have stayed with my story from the beginning, those of you who reviewed, and those who offerend advice. I can't thank Chanelle Summer for betaing this story and I'm praying for your speedy recovery. I want to thank my insperation for this story. The Lifetime Original movie Not My Life and Mary Higgins Clark book Nighttime is My Time. Without watching/reading I would never have had the idea for this story. I'm going to be taking a break from the Power Rangers and write some other stuff, but don't worry I'll be back! Catch Ya On The Flip Side!!!


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